tfiEi^RESTS, 
Ml§E^  AND 
FAGfORIES. 


Steam  fisHiiso  boAj 


Rand,  McNALLr  i,  Co.,  Printers  ano  Engravers. 


V 


v^  .  r>y 


HAND-BOOK 


OF 


NORTH    CAROLINA, 


WITH 


LLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAP. 


STATE   BOARD  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


RALEIGH  : 

PRESSES  OF   EDWARDS  &   BROUGHTON. 
1893. 


P  R  E  FA  C  E . 


At  the  request  of  T.  K.  Bruner,  Secretary  to  the  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture, in  the  month  of  May  last  I  undertook  the  work  of  preparing 
a  new  edition  of  the  Hand-Book  of  North  Carolina.  Two  previous 
editions,  hy  different  compilers,  had  been  issued,  each  one  of  which  was 

4 

considered  satisfactory  presentation  of  the  varied  conditions  of  the 
State  as  they  then  existed ;  but  as  there  had  been  a  great  increase  in 
the  industries,  population  and  prosperity  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina 
from  the  issue  of  the  first  edition  in  1874,  to  that  of  the  second  in  1883, 
so  it  was  to  be  reasonably  assumed  from  the  latter  period  until  the  pres- 
ent the  changes  had  been  equally  as  marked;  greater,  in  fact,  because 
the  greater  the  removal  from  that  era  of  poverty  and  desolation  which 
had  followed  the  war,  and  the  subsequent  agitated  and  uncertain  con- 
ditions, the  greater  the  incitements,  aids  and  encouragements  to  rapid 
and  full  recuperation. 

It  was  desirable  to  prove  the  extent  of  this  recuperation,  the  magni- 
tude and  extent  of  the  onward  progress,  the  addition  to  the  subjects  of 
industry,  and,  perhaps,  more  interesting  and  valuable  than  any  other 
subjects,  the  progress  of  intellectual  enlightenment,  and  the  extent  of 
the  educational  advantages  extended  to  tiie  youth  of  the  State. 

An  event  was  approaching  which  was  particularly  calculated  to  call 
from  the  State  an  intelligent  exhibit  of  its  resources,  an  outline  of  its 
transactions,  and  a  picture  of  the  field  in  which  the  capacities  and  the 
aspirations  of  the  people  were  most  apt  to  illustrate  themselves.  This 
was  the  great  Columbian  Exposition  to  be  held  in  Chicago  during  the 
coming  year,  and  in  which  it  was  not  only  desirable  that  North  Car- 
olina should  take  part,  but  anticipate  the  part  she  was  expected  to  take 
by  such  publication  of  her  natural  and  improved  conditions,  her  topog- 
raphy, climate  and  products,  her  institutions,  her  manufactures,  her 
internal  improvements,   her  ores  and  her  minerals,  as   would  satisfy 


IV  P  R  E  F  A  C  P:  . 

public  expectation  and  justify  the  ambition  of  her  own  people  to  enter 
into  friendly  rivalry  with  her  sister  States,  and  with  the  world. 

It  is  believed  that  the  present  Hand-Book  will  contribute  largely  to 
correct  many  misapprehensions  about  North  Carolina,  the  growth  of 
its  former  timid  modesty,  and  the  absence  of  information  which  men 
of  energetic  public  spirit  could  have  earlier  imparted.  The  extent  of 
information  given,  the  great  number  of  subjects  treated  of,  the  great- 
ness and  liberality  of  its  public  institutions,  the  generosity  and  com- 
prehensiveness of  its  educational  systems,  the  extent  of  its  internal 
improvements,  the  number  and  variety  of  its  manufactures,  the  curious 
admixtures  and  value  of  its  agricultural  pursuits,  the  extensive  diffusion 
of  its  ores  and  metals,  precious  as  well  as  the  industrially  useful,  and 
also  the  universally  salubrious  and  temperate  climate,  which  is  enjoyed 
from  the  sea-coast  to  the  mountains,  will  certainlv  awake  the  interest 
due  to  the  many  subjects  brought  to  view. 

It  may  be  added  that  the}''  are  brought  to  view  with  rigid  regard  to 
facts,  with  laudable  object  to  give  them  wide  publicity;  with  truthful 
purpose  to  present  them  as  they  are,  without  the  coloring  of  exagger- 
ation, and  without  the  distortion  of  untruthfulness  or  detraction.  A 
large  portion  of  the  facts  are  drawn  from  official  records  and  the  state- 
ments of  statistics;  and  such  being  the  case,  it  was  impossible  to  have 
presented  anything  entirely  new,  since  such  facts  as  relate  to  topogra- 
phy, mineralogy,  forestry,  climate  and  kindred  topics,  once  ascertained 
admit  of  few  changes.  Therefore  to  Prof.  W.  C.  Kerr,  the  Rev.  Dr.  M.  A. 
Curtis,  Professor  Holmes,  Mr.  Hanna,  and  other  scientific  authorities,  and 
also  to  the  reports  of  the  various  State  departments,  are  due  a  large 
portion  of  the  information  conveyed  in  this  publication.  Acknowledg- 
ments are  also  made  to  the  edition  of  1883,  from  which,  in  some 
instances,  copious  extracts  are  made.  I  have,  in  addition,  secured  nuuh 
material  by  personal  research,  particularly  in  relation  to  the  fisheries, 
manufactures,  some  subjects  of  agriculture,  tiie  mountains  and  rivers, 
and  some  of  the  newly  introduced  subjects  of  industry,  such  as  truck 
farming,  canneries,  viticulture,  etc.  To  information  on  climate,  I  am 
largely  indebted  to  l)r.  H.  B.  Battle;  and  to  the  articles  on  ores  and 
minerals,  gold,  iron,  copper,  etc..  to  Prof.  C  i>.  Hanna  and  Prof.  J.  A. 
Holmes,  State  Geologist. 


PREFACE.  V 

More  space  than  is  due,  in  proportion  to  tlie  extent  of  tlie  work,  is 
given  to  the  description  of  counties.  It  is  to  be  regretted  now  that  it 
was  so  applied.  It  is  a  great,  a  fruitful,  and  a  very  important  subject, 
and  in  point  of  usefulness  merits  a  distinct  work,  for  elaborate  special 
description  of  the  counties  will  be  of  more  value  to  them  and  to  the 
State  than  any  other  mode  of  inviting  attention  to  their  resources  and 
characteristics.  As  it  is,  too  little  is  said  of  such  counties  as  could  not 
be  visited,  and  also  too  little  of  those  which  were  visited,  and  had  thus 
their  importance  demonstrated.  The  number  of  ninety-six  counties  is 
too  great  to  be  treated  incidentally,  and  yet  the}^  could  not  be  wholly 
omitted.  I  think  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  may  properly  be 
called  to  this  subject. 

I  cannot  close  this  subject  without  reference  to  the  generous  aid 
extended  by  the  officers  and  attaches  of  the  Agricultural  Department,  to 
Commissioner  John  Robinson,  to  Secretary  T.  K.  Bruner,  and  to  Dr.  H. 
B.  Battle,  Director  of  the  Experiment  Station.  Drawn  more  closely  in 
eonnection  with  Mr.  Bruner,  it  is  pleasant,  as  it  is  just,  to  render  tribute 
to  his  interest  in  the  Hand-Book,  to  his  energy,  his  intelligence  and  his 
industrious  research,  by  visits  and  by  correspondence,  to  comprehend 
every  subject  that  was  attainable,  that,  in  a  publication  designed  to 
illustrate  North  Carolina  on  the  wide  stage  of  the  world's  survey,  could 
add  to  the  honor  and  interest  of  his  native  State. 

Circumstances  beyond  my  control  compelled  a  somewhat  hurried 
and  abbreviated  presentation  of  the  subjects  embraced  in  the  present 
volume.  Nevertheless,  I  believe  the  Hand-Book  will  aid  in  giving  that 
publicity  to  the  conditions  of  North  Carolina  sought  to  be  obtained  by 
bringing  it  to  the  knowledge  of  the  visitors  to  the  Columbian  Exposition. 

J.  D.  CAMERON. 

AsHEViLLE,  N.  C,  December  18,  1892. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

General  Sketch 1 

The  Mountain  Section 1-3 

In  Cross-Chains 3-5 

Elevation  of  Mountains 5-8 

Middle  and  Piedmont  Sections 8-11 

Eastern  Section 11-17 

Rivers 17-23 

Lakes 23-24 

Sounds  and  Bays 24 

Swamps 25 

Forests 26-42 

Climate 42-45 

Rainfall 45 

Snow 45 

Frosts 45 

Population  of  the  State 46-53 

Government  and  Taxation 53-57 

State  Debt 57-59 

Religion * 59 

Public  Institutions 60-72 

Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 72 

Geological  Museum 73 

Railroad  Commission : 73 

Public  Buildings 74-75 

Education 75-78 

Higher  Education 78-80 

Denominational  Colleges 80-84 

Secondary  Instruction 84-85 

1'rivate  Schools  and  Colleges 85 

Higher  Fk.male  Education 86-91 

('olle(;f:s  for  the  Colored  People 91-96 


TAP.LE    OP    ('ONTKNT8.  VIE 

PAOE. 

Description  OF  Counties 96-205 

Agricultural  Products 206-208 

Tobacco 208-213 

Tobacco  Production  for  1889 213-214 

Rice 214-216 

Cotton 217-220 

Cotton  Crop  for  1889 220 

Peanuts 221-222 

Ports  and  Harbors  of  North  Carolina 223-227 

Truck  Farming 228-233 

Silk 233-235 

Mineral  Springs  OF  North  Carolina 236-241 

Fisheries 241-247 

Oysters  and  the  Oyster  Survey 247-251 

Nurseries,  Etc. 251-253 

The  Grape  in  North  Carolina 253-256 

Vineyards 256-258 

Resorts,  Hotels 259 

Seaside  Resorts 259-261 

Mountain  Resorts 261-267 

Manufactories  in  North  Carolina 267-269 

Cotton  Mills 269-272 

Woolen  Mills 272 

Tobacco  Factories 271-273 

Wood-working  Establishments 273 

Paper  Mills '-"^ 

Knitting  Mells 275 

Canneries 2/5-^/7 

Cottonseed  Oil  Mills 277-278 

Fertilizer  Factories 278-279 

Pine  Leaf  Factories 2<9 

Bucket  Factories -'^ 

Rice  Mills '-'^ 

Potteries,  Etc. 2/9 

Iron  Manufactorip:s 2/9-280 


VIII  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Railroads 282-286 

Canals  and  Aktikicial  Navigation 289-200 

Newspapers 290-291 

Building  Stones 292 

Granite 292-293 

Sandstone . 293-295 

Marble 295-29G 

Slate 296 

Gold  Mining  in  North  Carolina 296-310 

Silver,  Lead  and  Zinc 310 

Copper 310-311 

Iron  Ores 311-320 

Manganese 320 

Chromic  Iron 321 

Cobalt  and  Nickel 321 

Economic  Minerals 321 

Pyrite 321 

Mica 321-322 

Kaolin  and  Fire-clay 322 

Talc 322 

A(;almatolite 322 

Barytk 323 

Whetstone 323 

Millstone  AND  Grindstone  Grit 323 

Corundum 323-324 

Mai;ls 324 

Grai'Hite 324-325 

Coal 325-326 

(Jkms  and   Pkkcious  Stones 326  328 


HAND-BOOK  OF  NORTH  MROLINA. 


GENERAL  SKETCH. 

The  State  of  North  Carolina  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Virginia, 
east  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  south  by  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and 
west  by  Tennessee.  It  is 'included  nearly  between  the  parallels  34° 
and  36|^°  north  latitude,  and  between  the  meridians  75^°  and  84|°  west 
longitude. 

The  extreme  length  of  the  State  from  east  to  west  is  503^  miles;  its 
average  breadth  is  100  miles;  its  extreme  breadth  is  187|  miles.  Its 
area  embraces  52,286  square  miles,  of  which  48,066  is  land,  and  3,620 
is  water. 

Its  topography  may  be  best  conceived  by  picturing  to  the  mind's  eye 
the  surface  of  the  State  as  a  vast  declivity,  sloping  down  from  the 
summits  of  the  Smok}^  Mountains,  an  altitude  of  nearly  7,000  feet,  to 
the  level  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  Smoky  Mountains  constitute  a 
part  of  the  great  Appalachian  chain,  which  here  attains  its  greatest 
height;  the  greatest,  indeed,  in  the  United  States,  east  of  the  Rocky 
'Mountains.  This  slope  is  made  up  of  three  wide  extended  terraces — 
if  that  term  may  be  allowed;  the  first  a  high  mountain  plateau — dis- 
tinguished as  the  Western  or  Mountain  Section;  the  second,  a  submon- 
tane plateau,  distinguished  as  the  Middle  Section,  of  which  the  western 
half  i^  further  distinguished  as  the  Piedmont  Section;  the  third,  the 
Atlantic  plain,  distinguished  as  the  Low  Country  or  Eastern  Section, 
and  that  part  from  the  head  of  the  tides  downward  as  the  Tide-water 
Section.  From  the  first  to  the  second  section  there  is  a  sharp  descent 
through  a  few  miles  only  of  not  less  than  1,500  feet;  from  the  middle 
to  the  low  country  a  descent  of  about  200  feet;  through  the  two  latter, 
however,  there  is  a  constant  downward  grade. 

THE   MOUNTAIN   SECTION. 

This  is  so  sharply  and  distinctly  defined,  and  embraces  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  territory  of  North  Carolina,  as  to  merit  a  somewhat 
extended  reference  to  its  magnitude,  its  elevation  and  its  character- 


Z  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

istics.  Broadly  considered,  it  may  be  treated  as  a  high  phiteau,  bounded 
on  the  east  by  the  irregular  chain  known  as  the  Blue  Ridge,  t-xtending 
across  the  State  in  a  general  direction  from  north-east  to  south-west, 
until,  reaching  the  south-eastern  border  of  Henderson  County,  it  turns 
to  the  west  and  forms  for  a  long  distance  part  of  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  State,  passing  at  length  by  a  south-west  projection  into  the  State 
of  Georgia,  and  again  reuniting  with  the  chain  of  the  Smoky  Mountains, 
to  which  it  had  made  near  approach  on  its  entry  into  North  Carolina 
in  the  counties  of  Ashe  and  Watauga. 

The  average  elevation  of  the  Blue  Ridge  is  nearly  4,000  feet,  though 
on  the  southern  and  northern  extremities  it  drops  to  3,000  feet,  its  lower 
:gaps  being  a  little  above  2,000  feet  over  the  main  level  of  the  piedmont 
-country.  Seen  from  the  east,  the  chain  presents  the  aspect  of  a  steep 
:and  rugged  escarpment  springing  suddenly  from  the  piedmont  }^la- 
leau  to  an  altitude  of  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet  above  it.  From  the  west 
the  appearance  is  that  of  a  low  and  ill-defined  ridge,  in  some  places,  as 
in  parts  of  Henderson  and  Macon  Counties,  presenting  almost  a  smooth, 
unbroken  horizontal  line:  again  uplifting  itself  in  bold  prominence, 
attaining  the  height  of  nearly  6,000  feet,  as  in  the  Grandfather,  and 
the  Pinnacle, the  conspicuous  summits  so  attractively  visible  near  Round 
Knob,  on  the  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad. 

The  western  boundary  of  this  division  is  that  long  chain  known 
under  the  various  names  of  the  Iron,  the  Smoky,  and  the  Unaka  Moun-. 
tains,  and  forming  the  dividing  line  between  North  Carolina  and  Ten- 
nessee, and  enclosing  with  marked  definiteness  the  plateau  of  Western 
North  Carolina.  The  .area  of  this  division  approximates  (5,000  square 
miles.  The  plateau  is  the  culminating  region  of  the  Appalachian  sys- 
tem, and  contains  not  only  its  heaviest  masses,  but  also  its  liighest  sum- 
mits. It  is  divided  by  a  number  of  cross  chains,  and  consequently  with 
a  number  of  smaller  plateaus  or  basins,  each  bounded  on  all  sides  by 
high  mountains,  and  having  it^  own  independent  system  of  rivers  or 
drainage.  It  is  this  connection  or  interlacing  of  the  outside  bounding 
chains  by  the  agency  of  the  numerous  cross  chains  that  gives  Western 
North  Carolina  its  marked  mountain  character,  its  alternation  of  high 
mountain  ranges  with  corresponding  valleys  and  their  attendant  rivers, 
and  the  numerous  lateral  spurs,  penetrated  also  by  their  valleys  and 
their  mountain  torrents,  and  all  arranged  with  an  order  and  a  symme- 
try as  rare  as  it  is  beautiful,  and  also  presenting  facilities  for  commu- 
nication from  the  opposite  sides  of  these  chains  of  inestimable  value  in 


THE    MOUNTAIN    SECTION.  O 

the  construction  of  works  of  internal  improvement  not  often  possessed 
by  mountain  countries,  in  their  general  aspect  tumultuously  upheaved 
in  defiance  of  human  advance  among  their  recesses. 

THE  CROSS  CHAINS. — The  chief  of  these  in  exceptional  elevation  is 
known  as  the  Black  Mountains,  consisting  of  two  chains — the  North- 
west and  the  Main  chain — the  united  length  of  which  is  about  forty 
miles,  extending  in  a  north-west  direction  from  the  Blue  Ridge  through 
the  counties  of  Buncombe  and  Yancey,  and  forming  a  link  of  connec- 
tion between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Smoky  Mountains.  These  united 
chains  comprise  twenty-five  peaks  in  all,  twenty  of  which  are  upwards 
of  6,000  feet  in  height.  Between  the  French  Broad  and  the  Pigeon 
River  stretches  the  long  chain  of  the  Pisgah  and  the  New  Found  Moun- 
tains, interrupted  by  the  valley  of  Hominy  Creek,  the  opening  of  which 
offers  convenient  passway  to  the  next  parallel  range,  the  Balsam 
Mountains,  which  extends  in  unbroken  continuity  from  the  South 
Carolina  line  on  the  south  to  the  Smoky  Mountains  on  the  Tennessee 
border  on  the  north.  This  range  has  a  mean  elevation  of  about  5,500 
feet,  with  fifteen  summits  exceeding  6,000  feet;  and  across  the  range 
are  only  two  passways  or  gaps  suitable  to  the  passage  of  wheeled  vehi- 
cles, one  of  which,  traversed  by  the  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad, 
is  3,357  feet  above  sea-level;  the  other,  Soco  Gap,  being  4,341  feet  high. 
Then  comes  the  Cowee  chain,  extending  nearly  across  the  State,  and 
separated  from  the  Smoky  Mountains  by  the  narrow  valley  of  the 
Tuckaseegee  River.  The  mean  height  of  this  chain  is  about  4,800  feet, 
the  highest  summit,  at  the  southern  end,  being  Yellow  Mountain,  5,133 
feet.  Then  succeeds  the  massive  and  ver}'  bold  double  chain  of  the 
Nantahala  and  Valley  River  Mountains,  with  a  mean  height  of  5,000 
feet,  the  two  branches  of  which  lie  in  close  parallelism  from  the  Georgia 
State  line  on  the  south  as  far  as  the  Red  Marble  Gap  on  the  north,  where 
they  separate,  one  branch  directed  westward  and  known  as  the  Long 
Ridge,  and  uniting  itself  with  the  Smoky  Mountains  in  Cherokee 
County;  the  other  extending  to  the  north-east,  under  the  name  of  the 
Cheoah  Mountains,  and  ending  without  definite  connection  in  undefin- 
able  chains  or  isolated  peaks. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge  are  a  series  of  independent  chains 
with  probable  geological  identity,  but  physically  detached.  Among 
these  are  the  Saluda,  Green  River,  Tryon  and  Hungry  Mountain  ranges, 
nearly  parallel  with  the  Blue  Ridge,  but  separated  by  the  deep  valleys 
or  gorges  cut  through  them  by  the  angry  torrents  which  have  cut 


4  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

through  them  to  unite  with  the  waters  flowing  toward  the  Atlantic; 
the  waters  on  tlie  Avest  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  on  the  contrary,  all  directing 
their  courses  towards  the  Mississippi  or  its  tributaries.  Another  series 
of  ranges  in  general  parallelism  with  the  Blue  Ridge,  but  with  wide 
interval  of  plain  and  valley  between  (he  two,  may  be  considered  as  one, 
but  with  capricious  outcrop,  at  one  point  appearing  in  bold  continuous 
chain,  then  disappearing,  and,  at  wide  interval,  rising  again  and  pur- 
suing a  south-easterly  direction,  to  unite  itself  with  the  mother  range. 
This  is  the  range  which  lifts  itself  abruptly  in  Stokes  County  as  the 
picturesque  kSauratan,  with  a  mean  elevation  of  2,200  feet,  to  sink  and 
rise  again  in  the  solitary  monument  of  the  Pilot  Mountain;  then  again 
to  disappear  to  give  place  for  the  broad,  fertile  valley  of  the  Yadkin, 
to  rise  again  and  expose  to  view  the  lengthened  chain  of  the  Brushy 
Mountains,  again  to  sink,  then  rise  again  in  solitary  height  near  Con- 
nelly's Springs,  and  then  rise  again  in  southern  Burke  to  dominate  a 
very  beautiful  landscape  as  the  South  Mountains. 

The  Linville  Mountains,  though  distinct  from  the  Blue  Ridge,  are 
so  coincident  with  it  in  perspective  and  in  general  characteristics  as  to 
need  no  mention  as  a  distinct  range. 

In  the  southern  part  of  Randolph  County,  and  extending  into  the 
county  of  Montgomery,  appear  the  comparatively  insignificant  range 
of  the  Uwharrie  Mountains,  nowhere  attaining  an  elevation  of  more 
than  1,500  feet, — rough,  rocky  and  barren,  except  in  mineral  wealth, 
gold  being  found  at  many  points  in  the  range,  and  having  been  worked 
wath  great  profit  by  many  investors. 

East  of  these  mountains,  in  the  counties  of  Orange,  Durham  and 
Person,  appear  frequent  outcrops  of  mountain  formation  reaching  in 
general  characteristics  almost  the  dignity  of  mountains,  but  nowhere 
rising  to  the  elevation  of  1,200  feet  above  tidewater.  These  detached 
outcrops  may  be  grouped  in  the  general  term  of  the  Occoneechee  Moun- 
tains, and  are  the  last  efforts  of  the  forces  of  upheaval  in  the  direction 
of  the  sea  to  lift  the  earth  above  its  normal  level. 

The  above  embrace  the  whole  mountain  system  of  North  Carolina, 
and  in  the  western  section  unmistakably  present  the  culmination  of 
the  great  Appalachian  system,  as  illustrated  by  the  highest  summits 
lifted  up  in  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  also  as  the  source  from  which  many  large  rivers  radiate 
to  flow  towards  the  opposite  directions  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries. 


THE    MOUNTAIN    SECTION.  O 

Along  the  Blue  Ridge,  along  the  Smoky  Mountain  range,  and  along 
the  cross  chains  are  found  the  following  summits  which  exceed  6,000 
feet  in  elevation : 

IN  THE  SMOKY  MOUNTAINS.— Mount  Buckley,  6,509;  Chngman's  Dome, 
6,660;  Mount  Love,  6,449;  Mount  Collins,  6,188;  Mount  Alexander, 
6,447;  Mount  Henry,  6,373;  Mount  Guyot,  6,636;  Tricorne  Knob, 
6,188;  Ravens  Knob,  6,290;  Thermometer  Knob,  6,157;  Luftee  Knob, 
6,238;  Cataloochee,  6,159;  Roan  (High  Knob),  6,306;  Roan  (High 
Bluff),  6,296;  Grassy  Ridge  (Bald),  6,230;  Cold  Spring,  6,130. 

IN  THE  BALSAM  MOUNTAINS.— Enos  Plott's  Balsam,  6,090;  Jones'  Bal- 
sam, 6,224;  Rockstone  Knob,  6,002;  Brother  Plott,  6,246 ;  Amos  Plott's 
Balsam,  6,278;  Rocky  Face,  6,061;  Double  Spring  Mountain,  6,380; 
Richland  Balsam,  6,425;  Chimney  Peak,  6,234;  Spruce  Ridge  Top, 
6,076;  Reinhardt  Mountain,  6,106;  Devil's  Court  House,  6,049;  Sam's 
Knob,  6,001;  Cold  Mountain,  6,063. 

IN  THE  BLACK  MOUNTAINS.  —  North-west  Chain  —  Blackstock's  Knob, 
6,380;  Potato  Top,  6,300.  Main  C7i«m— Black  Dome,  6,502;  Mount 
Gibbs,  6,501;  -Mount  Hallback  or  Sugar-loaf,  6,406;  Mount  Mitchell, 
6,717;  Balsam  Cone,  6,671;  Black  Brother,  6,619;  Cattail  Peak,  6,611; 
Hairy  Bear,  6,610;  Deer  Mountain,  6,203;  Long  Ridge,  Middle  Point, 
6,259;  Bowlen's  Pyramid,  6,348. 

IN  THE  CRAGGY  RANGE.— Big  Craggy,  6,000. 

In  all  forty-three  peaks  of  6,000  feet  and  upwards.  And  there  are 
eighty-two  mountains  which  exceed  in  height  5,000  feet,  and  closely 
approximate  6,000,  and  the  number  which  exceed  4,000  and  approxi- 
mate 5,000  is  innumerable.  '-^^ 

The  general  contour  of  all  these  mountains  is  gentle,  the  summits 
generally  presenting  smooth  rounded  otUlines,  occasionally  rising  into 
sharp  pointed  peaks,  and,  except  on  the  southern  border,  presenting 
little  of  precipitous  formation.  There,  some  of  the  most  stupendous 
cliffs  or  precipices  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  present  themselves, 
such  as  Csesar's  Head  and  Whiteside  Mountain,  the  latter  presenting  a 
sheer  perpendicular  front  of  naked  rock  eighteen  hundred  feet  in 
height. 

Otherwise  the  mountains  are  covered  with  deep  rich  soil,  clothed 
with  massive  forests  to  their  tops.  To  this  general  condition  there  is 
the  remarkable  exception  presented  by  the  locally  named  balds,  natural 
meadows  found  on  the  rounded  tops  of  many  of  the  highest  mountains. 


6  HAND-BOOK    OF    XORTH    CAROLINA. 

Their  elevation  is  generally  near,  or  above,  6,000  feet.  The  heavy 
forest  growth  of  the  valleys  and  lower  slopes  of  the  mountains  is 
gradually  dwarfed  towards  the  bald  summits,  so  that  these  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  fringe  of  stunted,  scrubby  oaks,  beeches,  &c.,  the  balds 
themselves  being  covered  with  a  rich  herbage  of  grass,  pasturage  to 
which  large  herds  of  domestic  animals  are  annuall}^  driven  to  remain 
until  the  return  of  cold  w'eather. 

The  great  elevation  of  these  mountain  heights  is  indicated  by  the 
botanical  features  of  the  vegetation,  which  shows  a  predominance  of 
firs,  hemlocks,  white  pines,  and  other  trees  of  high  latitudes. 

In  respect  to  those  timber  trees  found  here,  in  common  with  the  other  sections,  the 
Mountain  Section  has  the  advantage  of  possessing  an  unbroken  forest.  In  comparison 
with  the  extent  of  forest  lands,  the  clearings  hei'e  are  mere  patches. 

There  is  little  hazard  in  saying  that  there  is  nowhere  in  any  of  the  States  an  equal 
area  of  land  covered  with  timber  trees  of  such  various  kinds,  and  of  such  value.  The 
walnut,  tulip  trees  (poplars),  and  oaks  attain  a  size  that  would  hardly  be  credited  by 
one  who  had  not  seen  them.  The  preservation  of  this  magnificent  forest  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  has  hitherto  been  inaccessible  to  transportation.  Within  the  past  few 
years  much  of  it  has  been  brought  into  connection  with  the  markets  of  the  world. 
One  railroad  line  passes  entirely  through  this  section,  and  another  branching  off  at 
Asheville  and  leading  to  the  extreme  southwest  of  the  State,  is  in  great  part  com- 
pleted. Into  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State  also  a  railroad  has  been  completed 
and  others  projected,  of  which  two  are  partially  gi-aded. 

The  cultivated  productions  of  this  section  are  the  same  with  those  of  the  Middle 
Section,  cotton  and  rice  excejited.  Its  garden  vegetables  are  the  same,  but  the  cabbage 
and  the  Irish  potato  gi-ow  here  to  a  degree  of  i>erfection  that  cannot  be  excelled  any- 
where. Among  the  fruits,  its  apples  are  noted  for  size  and  flavor.  Peaches  and 
grapes  grow  well  generally  ;  but,  for  their  higliest  perfection,  nature  has  made  pro- 
visions by  a  suspension  to  some  extent  of  her  ordinary  laws.  Throughout  the  moun- 
tains, in  certain  localities  and  at  <t  rtain  elevations,  there  are  horizontal  belts  where 
frost  is  never  known.  Such  locaHties  are  found  not  only  in  this  section,  but  in  the 
South  Mountains  and  in  the  Brushy  range.  Tliey  constitute  an  unfailing  source  of 
9upi)ly  of  these  fruits,  and  in  process  .of  time  will  be  occupied  by  establishments  for 
canning  fruits  for  the  markets  of  the  world. 

The  climate  of  this  section  differs  less  from  that  of  the  Middle  Section  than  would 
be  inferred  from  its  higher  altitude.  The  difference  is  more  perceptiljle  in  summer 
than  in  winter.  In  the  former  season,  its  cool  and  bracing  air,  together  with  its 
varied  scenery,  its  mineral  waters — sulphur,  chalybeate  and  thermal — made  this 
section  one  of  the  favorite  resorts  of  the  p('()])le()f  the  South  and  Southwest  when  it 
covdd  only  be  reached  by  private  conveyances.  Since  it  has  been  penetrated  by  rail- 
roads, the  influx  of  health  and  pleasure-seekers  has  increased  an  hundred  fold,  and 
in  future  will  add  veiy  largely  to  its  resources. 

It  is  the  resort,  too,  of  people  fi-om  the  far  North  in  winter.  It  is  protected  by  the 
range  of  mountains  which  form  its  boundaries  from  all  the  cold  winds— the  north- 
east, north  and  north-west.  The  degree  of  cold  is  therefore  temperate.  A  pincliing 
8ea.son  in:iy  come  at  long  interAals  :  it  is,  however,  of  short  duration,  V)eing  (piickly 


THE    MOUNTAIN    SECTION.  7 

succeeded  by  weather  of  a  moderate  temperature.  Such  seasons  are  not  unwelcome 
by  way  of  contrast.  The  quantity  of  snow  that  falls  here  is  less  than  that  of  the 
Middle  Section.  Even  in  the  high  mountain  ranges,  cattle  are  excluded  from  pastur- 
age by  the  snow  only  once  in  about  seven  years. 

The  soils  of  the  basins  of  the  great  rivers  of  this  section,  and  its  mountain  valleys, 
ai'e  noted  for  their  fertilitj".  The  capacity  for  the  production  of  cereals  and  hay 
grasses  is  equal  to  those  of  any  lands.  As  might  be  inferred  from  the  heavj'  forest 
growth  with  which  the  entire  surface  is  covered,  the  mountain  sides  are  susceptible 
of  profitable  cultivation  up  to  their  summits. 

Among  the  valleys  most  noted  for  their  beaut}'  and  extent  are  the  Upper  French 
Broad  and  Mills  River  Valleys,  of  Henderson  and  Transylvania  :  the  Swannanoa,  in 
Buncombe  ;  the  Pigeon  River,  Richland  and  Jonathan's  Creek  flat  lands,  in  Haywood  ; 
those  of  the  Valley  River  and  Hiwassee,  in  Cherokee ;  and  portions  of  the  Upper 
Linville,  in  Mitchell. 

The  entire  transmontane  country  is  well  adapted  to  stock-raising.  The  cultivated 
grasses  flourish  everywhere  with  even  ordinary  care.  But  it  is  in  the  north-western 
counties — particularly  in  the  counties  of  Ashe,  Alleghany,  Watauga,  Mitchell,  Yan- 
cey— that  all  the  conditions  are  found  necessary  for  its  perfect  success.  The  soil 
throughout  these  counties  is  a  deep  rich  loam,  up  to  the  summits  of  the  movuitains. 
The  whole  country  is  covered  with  a  dense  vegetation,  amongst  which  will  be  found 
some  of  the  largest  timber  in  the  United  States,  and  as  yet  the  forests  are  compara- 
tively unbroken,  because  they  have  been  inaccessible  to  market.  The  clearing  of  the 
timber  is  a  work  of  some  difficulty,  but  when  that  is  done  the  labor  of  the  farmer  is 
rewarded  with  the  richest  crops  After  two  or  three  crojis  are  taken  off,  the  land,  if 
suffered  to  lie  at  rest,  springs  up  spontaneously  in  timothy,  herds  grass,  and  other 
rich  pasture  grasses ;  and  once  established,  the  grass  perpetuates  itself  upon  the  land. 
Nor  is  an  entire  clearing  necessary  to  establish  the  land  in  grass.  If  the  undergrowth 
is  removed,  the  trees  thinned  out,  and  the  surface  stirred  and  sown  in  orchard  grass 
(Cocks  foot),  it  flourishes  luxuriantly,  even  while  the  forest  trees  are  left  standing. 

Its  capacity  as  a  grazing  country  has  long  been  known.  But  formerly  the  cattle 
were  left  to  the  resources  of  nature,  which,  indeed,  in  such  a  countrj-  were  abundant 
and  rich.  "  Horses  and  horned  cattle,"  says  General  Clingman  in  one  of  his  publica- 
tions, "are  usually  driven  out  into  the  mountains  about  the  first  of  April  and  bi-ought 
back  in  November.  Within  six  weeks  after  they  have  thus  been  put  into  the  range, 
they  become  fat  and  sleek.  There  are,  however,  on  the  top  and  along  the  sides  of  the 
higher  mountains  ever-green  and  winter  grasses  on  which  horses  and  horned  cattle 
Hve  well  through  the  entire  winter.  Such  animals  are  often  foaled  and  reared  there 
until  fit  for  market,  without  ever  seeing  a  cultivated  plantation  "'  Of  late,  attention 
has  been  turned  to  the  breeding  of  fine  stock,  and  some  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of 
sheep  are  found  there  which  will  compare  not  unfavorably  with  those  of  any  country. 
This  country  is  already  penetrated  by  one  railroad,  and  others  are  in  course  of  con- 
struction. When  fairly  laid  open  to  railroad  communication  it  will  offer — besides  its 
rich  mining  interests  and  timbers— one  of  the  finest  fields  for  cattle  and  sheep  breed- 
ing and  for  dairy  products  that  the  Union  presents. 

Apart  from  its  forests,  nature  has  been  prodigal  to  this  section  in  shrubs  and  flower- 
ing plants.  It  has  always  been  a  favorite  resort  of  the  botanists.  It  is  a  field  that 
has  been  assiduously  cultivated  by  many  of  the  most  distinguished  professors  of  that 
science.  It  was  from  these  mountains  that  Bartram,  the  I\Iichaiix — father  and  son — 
Fraser,  Delile,  Lyon,  Nuttall,  Von  Schweinitz.  jMitchell.  riray  aixl  (~^urtis.  <1r<'w  much 


8  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

of  the  material  of  their  vahiable  contributions  to  botanical  science.  It  was  liere  that 
some  of  the  most  beautiful  flowers  that  adorn  the  gardens  of  Europe  and  of  this 
country  were  first  discovered.  It  still  yields  rare  flowers  to  the  explorer,  which 
though  not  conspicuous  for  their  beauty,  are  deemed  rare  treasures  by  botanists. 

This  section  has  also  been  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  supply  of  medicinal  herbs. 
Immense  quantities  are  gathered  and  shipped  to  the  Northern  cities  and  to  Europe. 
In  travelling  through  the  mountains  bales  of  these  herbs  may  be  seen  collected  about 
the  countiy  stores  as  bales  of  cotton  are  seen  in  the  Middle  and  Eastern  Sections. 
Ginseng  in  great  (juantities  is  shij^ped  to  China.  The  trade  in  medicinal  herbs  has 
grown  into  a  large  business. 

Corundum  abounds  in  3Iacon,  Clay  and  many  other  counties.  Mica  is  abundant  in 
Mitchell  and  Yancey,  and  those  counties  3-ield  a  large  part  of  the  world's  sui)ply. 
The  largest  and  finest  sheets  of  it  seen  at  the  World's  Fair  at  Vienna  were  from  the 
Ray  Mine  in  Yancey. 

This  section  is  rich  in  iron  ores  of  the  best  grade.  That  of  Cranberry  possesses 
such  excellence  for  making  iron  for  special  purposes — steam  boilers  for  example,  and 
steel  of  the  finest  quality,  such  as  is  adapted  to  making  surgical  instruments  and  the 
like — that  a  railroad  forty  miles  long  has  been  constructed  through  one  of  the  most 
rugged  parts  of  the  mountain  territory  to  reach  it.  Copper  also  is  prominent  among 
the  metals  of  this  region.  The  most  noted  mine  is  that  of  Ore  Knob,  in  Ashe.  It 
has  been  extensiveh*  developed,  and  the  business  in  all  its  branches  is  conducted  with 
intelligence,  skill  and  energy. 

The  effect  of  these  mining  enterprises  upon  the  prosperity  of  this  section  has  been 
marked.  Labor  has  found  profitable  em])loyment.  a  home  market  has  been  furnished 
to  the  farmer,  and  there  has  been  a  general  appreciation  of  propertj*  of  everj'  kind. 

The  last  three  years  have  been  remarkable  for  the  success  with  which  the  difficulties 
presented  by  the  want  of  transportation  in  this  State  ha,ve  been  grappled  with  and 
overcome.  These  achievements  at  once  great  and  beneficent,  will  make  this  period  a 
memorable  one  in  the  history  of  the  State.  Railroads  are  now  entering  the  north- 
western i)art  of  the  S.tate  in  several  directions.  The  completion  and  connection  of 
these,  and  the  opening  up  of  this  region,  so  rich  in  elements  of  undeveloped  wealth, 
is  now  regarded  as  the  first  and  most  imperative  duty  of  the  statesmen  of  Nortlx 
Carolina. 

MIDDLE   AND   PIEDMONT  SECTION 

Is  intermediate  between  the  Mountain  Section,  alteady  spoken  of,  and 
the  Eastern  Section,  which  extends  to  the  coast.  It  comprises  neaily 
one-lialf  the  territory  of  the  State.  In  passing  into  this  section,  either 
from  the  Western  or  tlie  Eastern,  a  marked  change  is  at  once  ob.serv- 
able  in  topography,  in  production,  and  largely  in  industrial  pursuits. 
The  tumultuous  continuity  of  mountains  subsides  into  gentle  undula- 
tions, a  succession  of  hills  and  dales,  a  variety  and  charm  of  landscape, 
alike  different  from  the  high,  uplificd  mountain  elevations  an<l  the  flat 
monotony  of  the  plains  or  levels  of  the  east.  Every  step  brings  to  view 
some  new  charm,  some  new  arrangement  of  the  rounded  hills,  some 


MIDDLE    AND    PIEDMONT    SECTION.  9 

new  grouping  of  the  tracts  of  forest  which  still  cover  so  large  a  part  of 
the  country.  The  hills,  indeed,  in  their  gracefully  curving  outlines, 
present  lines  of  beauly  with  which  the  eye  of  taste  is  never  satiated. 
These  are  attractions  which  depend  upon  permanent  features  of  the 
landscape,  and  which,  though  infinitely  heightened  in  their  effects  by 
the  verdure  of  spring  and  summer,  are  only  brought  into  fuller  relief 
by  the  nakedness  of  winter.  The  variations  of  surface,  though  less 
defined  at  tirst,  become  more  marked  towards  the  west,  and  towards 
the  Blue  Ridge  the  country  assumes  a  bold  and  even  rugged  aspect. 

The  hand  of  improvement  is  more  visible  in  this  than  in  any  section 
in  the  State.     This  is  chiefly  due  to  two  causes — 

1.  Agriculture  here  was  less  dependent  upon  slave  labor  than  in  the 
Eastern  Section.  The  number  of  slaves  was  less,  and  in  many  com- 
munities within  its  limits — as  those  made  up  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
or  Quakers — there  were  none.  Hence,  agricultural  industries,  whi3h 
were  prostrated  there  by  the  shock  of  the  civil  war — a  shock  fiom 
which  it  did  not  recover  before  years  had  elapsed— here  sustained  only 
a  partial  disturbance,  and  that  for  no  long  period. 

2.  No  part  of  tliis  section  was  occu[Jed  for  any  length  of  time  by 
hostile  troops,  and  at  the  end  of  the  war  its  means  of  subsistence  were 
comparatively  undrained.  A  basis  was  left  for  the  resumption  of  indus- 
tries To  this  is  to  be  added  another  advantage — the  facility  with 
which  lands  of  the  best  class  could  be  rented  after  the  break-up  of  the 
old  plantation  system.  All  the  large  proprietors,  after  the  loss  of  their 
slaves,  had  more  land  than  they  could  cultivate.  The  only  use  they 
could  make  of  it  was  to  let  it  to  rent.  To  young  and  f  nergetic  men  a 
golden  opportunity  was  thus  offered.  They  went  to  work,  stimulated 
by  the  desire  to  redeem  the  time  lost  during  their  service  in  the  army, 
and  by  the  hope  of  acquiring  lands  of  their  own.  But  everyone  had 
lost  heavily.  The  impulse  to  repair  those  losses  was  universal.  Labor, 
from  the  predominance  of  the  white  race  here,  was  not  greatly  inade- 
quate to  the  demand.  Hence,  every  kind  of  business  was  pressed  on 
with  spirit  and  zeal.  The  effect,  in  a  few  years,  was  to  obliterate  all  the 
deeper  traces  of  the  war;  then  the  work  of  improvement  began,  and 
has  been  steadily  cnrried  on.  This  section  is  now  dotted  over  with 
thriving  villages  and  towns.  The  homes  everywhere  indicate  a  high 
degree  of  thrift  and  comfort.  An  unusual  proi)ortion  are  built  in  mod- 
ern style,  and  tastefully  painted.  Nestled  amidst  yards  and  gardens, 
enclosed  with  neat  painted  palings,  flanked  with  orchards  of  fruit  trees, 


10  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

in  which  a  space  is  generally  allotted  to  choice  grape  vines,  they  give 
abundant  proof  of  ease,  plenty,  and,  in  many  instances,  of  no  small 
degree  of  luxury. 

It  is  in  this  section  that  the  great  water-power  of  the  State — estimated 
by  the  late  State  Geologist,  Prof.  W.  C.  Kerr,  at  three  million  horse- 
power— finds  its  greatest  development  and  employment.  It  is  through 
this  section  that  flow  the  upper  waters  of  the  Dan,  the  Roanoke,  the 
Tar,  the  Neuse,  the  Cape  Fear,  the  Yadkin  and  the  Catawba,  and  their 
numerous  affluents.  All  of  those  have  been  utilized  b}'^  the  erection  of 
corn,  flouring  and  saw-mills  in  every  neighborhood,  and  cotton  and 
woolen  mills  on  almost  all  of  the  rivers  and  their  tributaries.  Within 
the  last  few  years  the  number  of  cotton-mills  has  largely  increased. 
Those  erected  lately  are  spacious  buildings,  and  equipped  with  the  best 
machinery.  Within  the  same  period  all  or  nearly  all  of  the  older  ones 
have  been  enlarged  and  new  machinery  put  in.  The  fact  begins  to  be 
more  and  more  recognized  that  within  the  cotton  States  there  are 
advantages  for  the  manufacture  of  that  staple  that  cannot  be  found 
.elsewhere.  Here  the  cotton  is  at  the  door  of  the  manufacturer,  and 
the  prime  cost  of  the  material  is  therefore  less.  Wages  are  less  here 
than  in  the  Northern  States,  and  a  lower  rate  of  wages  here  affords  a 
more  comfortable  living  than  a  higher  rate  there,  for  the  necessaries  of 
life  are  cheaper,  and  less  of  food,  clothing  and  fuel  are  recjuired.  Less 
fuel,  too,  is  required  for  heating  the  mill  in  winter.  The  laborer  can 
make  substantial  additioDs  to  his  means  of  subsistence  from  his  garden^ 
which  is  always  allotted  here  to  the  head  of  the  family.  Here  there  is 
no  obstruction  to  machinery  from  ice  in  winter,  and  no  greater  susjien- 
sion  of  work  from  drought  in  summer,  for  our  rivers  are  as  long  as 
those  of  New  England,  and  have  as  many  tributaries.  The  original 
cost  of  the  site  and  of  the  building  here  is  very  much  less  than  the 
same  cost  there.     The  force  of  these  reasons  cannot  be  long  resisted. 

At  a  subsequent  place  in  this  volume  will  be  noted  what  has  been 
done  in  North  Carolina,  chiefly  in  this  Middle  Section,  in  cotton  manu- 
facture; and  also  the  steps  taken  to  foster  that  of  the  woolen  manufac- 
turer, to  which  there  are  many  of  the  climatic  and  economical  induce- 
ments that  so  encourage  and  reward  the  manufacture  of  cott6n. 

The  .soil  of  this  Middle  Section  presents  a  blending  of  the  soils  of  the 
Eastern  and  Weslei  n  divisions,  the  tertiary  formation  of  the  fiist  push- 
ing itself  sometimes  far  towards  the  west  until  it  conies  into  proximity 
with  the  secondary  formation  of  the  Piedmont  Section,  and  often,  in 


EASTERN    SECTION.  11 

its  extreme  western  extension,  partaking  of  the  character  of  the  pri- 
mary formation  of  the  Mountain  Section.  A  soil  so  composed  or  diversi- 
fied, in  connection  with  favorable  climatic  conditions,  offers  great  agri- 
cultural possibilities,  and  in  this  section  we  find  the  widest  range  of 
production.  It  is  here  that  we  find  the  largest  area  devoted  tu  the 
cultivation  of  the  most  profitable  varieties  of  tobacco,  and  it  is  here 
that  the  culture  of  cotton  is  largely  extended  and  profitably  pursued; 
and  it  is  here  also  that  all  the  cereals  and  all  the  grasses  are  culti- 
vated in  their  highest  perfection,  enlisting  the  leading  agricultural 
interest  of  the  population.  Here  also  the  fruits  of  the  temperate  zone 
find  congenial  home — apples,  peaches,  pears,  cherries,  the  small  fruits 
and  grapes  being  unexcelled  in  excellence,  variet}''  and  abundance.  In 
this  section  are  also  widely  distributed  the  richest  veins  and  deposits  of 
the  valuable  ores  and  metals,  including  the  precious  metals,  gold  and 
silver,  iron,  copper  and  lead,  and  the  only  two  coal  formations  found  in 
North  Carolina.  These  ores,  and  the  mining  operations  connected  with 
them,  will  be  treated  of  in  a  chapter  in  this  work  prepared  by  the  State 
Geologist.  This  region  also  abounds  in  varied  and  extensive  forest 
wealth,  which  will  be  referred  to  in  its  proper  place. 

EASTERN   SECTION. 

The  whole  eastern  portion  of  the  State  belongs  to  the  quaternar}^ 
system,  with  frequent  exposure  along  the  rivers,  ravines,  and  ditches  of 
the  eocene  and  miocene  epochs  of  the  tertiar}'.  It  consists  of  a  vast 
plain,  stretching  from  the  sea  coast  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  a 
distance  of  from  one  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles. 
Traversing  this  section  from  north  to  south  are  tracts  of  country  which 
vary  little  from  a  perfect  level.  The  Carolina  Central  Railroad  has  a 
stretch  of  one  hundred  miles  where  there  is  neither  curve,  excavation 
nor  embankment.  From  east  to  west  the  surface  rises  b}'  easy  grada- 
tions at  the  rate  of  a  little  more  than  a  foot  to  the  mile.  The  rise, 
however,  is  not  perceptible  to  the  traveler.  But  though  level  in  parts, 
it  is  in  general  relieved  by  slight  undulations.  In  its  extreme  western 
part,  in  the  county  of  Moore,  it  attains  an  elevation  of  about  five  hun- 
dred feet. 

The  western  boundary  may  be  roughly  defined  by  a  line  extending 
from  the  western  part  of  Warren,  through  Franklin,  Wake,  Cumber- 
land, Chatham,  jNloore,  Montgomery  and  Anson.  This  line  marks 
what,  at  an  early  period  of  the  earth's  history,  was  a  line  of  sea-beach. 


12  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Over  this  whole  section  the  primitive  rocks  are  covered  with  a  deep 
stratum  of  earth,  principalh'^  sand.  Along  the  western  border  there  is 
a  broad  belt  of  unequal  width,  but  generally  from  thirty  to  forty  miles 
across,  where  granite,  slate  and  other  rocks  are  sparingly  distributed  ; 
they  are  also  found  near  water-courses  in  the  interior  of  this  section. 
The  belt  of  primitive  rock  here  mentioned  extends  to  the  Wilmington 
and  Weldon  Railroad,  from  the  Virginia  line  to  Goldsboro,  and  from 
thence  to  a  line  drawn  through  Averasboro  to  the  South  Carolina  line 
about  where  the  Pee  Dee  enters  that  State.  From  the  line  there  indi- 
cated to  the  sea  coast  not  a  stone  of  any  size,  scarcely  a  pebble,  except 
at  a  feAV  points,  is  to  be  met  with.  There  is  a  rock  peculiar  to  this 
section  formed  by  the  combination  of  the  cilcareous  element  of  sea 
shells  and  the  silicious  matter  of  sand.  It  is  full  of  cavities — the  prints 
of  decomposed  shells — and  is  used  to  some  extent  as  millstones. 

A  bed  of  shell  limestone  underlies  this  part  of  the  State,  cropping 
out  at  intervals.  It  forms  a  good  limestone,  sufficiently  pure  for  all 
the  cmmon  purposes  of  building,  and  in  quantity  large  enough  to 
supply  a  wide  extent  of  country  with  quicklime.  Examples  of  this 
are  found  nine  miles  below  Waynesboro,  in  the  north-west  corner  of 
Jones,  in  the  northern  part  of  Onslow,  at  Wilmington,  and  on  the 
north-west  branch  of  the  Cape  Fear  to  a  distance  of  forty  miles  above. 

This  section  is  made  up  of  beds  of  clay  and  sand  with  vast  quantities 
of  shells  imbedded  in  them.  The  soil  varies  in  character  to  the  extent 
that  the  one  or  the  other  predominates;  and  to  the  extent  that  the 
shells,  when  intermixed  with  it,  have  undergone  decomposition.  The 
upland  soil  is  for  the  most  part  a  sandy  loam,  easily  accessible  to  the 
sun's  rays,  easily  worked,  and  ver}'  productive  in  the  crops  there  culti- 
vated. There  are,  however,  extensive  areas  of  country  where  sand 
predominates  to  such  a  degree  that  the  surface  to  a  considerable  depth 
is  a  bed  of  white  sand.  Yet  this  kind  of  land  is  the  favorite  habitat 
of  the  long-leaf  pine.  When  cleared,  it  yields  good  crops  of  corn  and 
cotton  for  a  few  years  without  manure,  and  always  with  slight  help 
from  proper  commercial  fertilizers.  There  are  other  extensive  areas 
where  clay  enters  so  largely  into  the  soil  as  to  form  a  clay  loam.  The 
counties  on  the  north  side  of  Albemarle  Sound — a  very  fertile  tnict  of 
country — are  examples  of  this  class.  The  alluvial  lands  of  this  sec- 
tion— lands  always  in  the  highest  degree  produc  ive  from  the  fact  that 
all  the  elements  of  fertility  are  intimately  intermingled  by  having  been 
once  suspended  in  water — are  of  uimsual  extent  and  importance.     The 


EASTERN    SECTION.  13 

grain  grown  there  supplies  food  not  only  for  people  of  other  parts  of 
the  State,  but  large  populations  in  other  States.  There  are  also  exten- 
sive areas  where  the  shells  of  the  eocene  era  of  the  tertiary  formation — 
and  which  have  been  decomposed  by  time — crop  out  t>  the  surface  and 
impart  to  the  soil  a  high  degree  of  fertility.  This  is  the  case  from  the 
eastern  part  of  Jones  county  to  the  Cape  Fear.  The  greater  proportion 
of  the  good  lands  in  Jones  depends  upon  the  fact  that  this  formation 
is  largely  developed  there.  The  rich  lands  of  Onslow,  and  of  Rocky 
Point,  in  New  Hanover,  owe  their  excellence  to  the  same  cause.  Another 
class  of  land  in  point  of  fertility  equalling  any  in  the  world  is  that 
reclaimed  from  some  of  the  lakes  of  this  section.  To  two  of  these  the 
process  of  drainage  has  been  applied — Lake  Mattamuskeet  and  Lake 
Scuppernong  (Phelps).  By  canals  dug  from  the  lake  to  the  nearest 
stream  which  afforded  the  necessary  fall  a  wide  margin  entirely  round 
the  lake  has  been  brought  into  cultivation.  These  lands  seem  to  be 
absolutely  inexhaustible.  The  cultivation  of  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury has  made  no  change  in  their  productive  capacity.  To  the  lands 
reclaimed  from  the  borders  of  marshes — so  frequent  near  the  sea-shore — 
the  same  remark  may  be  strictly  applied. 

Another  class  of  land  remains  to  be  mentioned  which  will  be  a 
resource  of  inestimable  value  in  time,  perhaps  not  distant.  Bordering 
on  the  sea  and  sounds  are  extensive  tracts  of  country  designated  as 
swamps.  Though  so-called,  they  differ  widely  in  their  characteristic 
features  from  an  ordinary  swamp.  They  are  not  alluvial  tracts,  neither 
are  they  subject  to  overflows  The  land  covered  by  many  of  them  lies 
for  the  greater  part  quite  low;  but  this  remark  seldom  applies  wholly 
to  any  of  them — to  some  does  not  apply  at  all.  On  the  contrary  many 
of  them  occupy  the  divides  or  water  sheds  between  the  rivers  and 
sounds,  and  are  elevated  many  feet  above  the  adjacent  rivers  of  which 
they  are  the  sources.  These  latter  are  susceptible  of  drainage,  and 
when  reclaimed  have  every  element  of  the  most  exuberant  and  lasting 
fertility.  Bay  River  Swamp,  between  Pamlico  and  Neuse  Rivers,  and 
Green  Swamp,  in  Brunswick  and  Columbus  Counties,  may  be  men- 
tioDed  as  examples.  The  elevation  of  the  latter  is  forty  feet  above  the 
sea  level.  The  work  of  drainage  is  simple.  From  the  border  of  the 
swamp,  which  is  always  the  highest  land,  the  bottom  slopes  in  every 
direction  gradually,  almost  imperceptibly,  to  the  centre.  A  canal  cut 
through  this  border  into  the  swamp,  and  carried  to  some  neighboring 
stream,  lays  bare  an  extensive  belt  along  the  entire  border.     The 


14  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 

aggregate  territory  in  the  State  known  as  swamp  lands  is  between  three 
and  four  thousand  square  miles.  AVhen  drainage  shall  be  properly 
carried  out  over  this  gr^at  territory — a  work  which,  on  account  of  the 
slight  difficulties  to  be  encountered  as  compared  with  those  which  they 
encountered  and  overcame,  would  be  deemed  trifling  by  the  laborious 
North  German  and  the  indefatigable  Hollander — hundreds  i-f  square 
mih'S  of  land  of  surpassing  fertility  will  be  added  to  the  area  now  in 
cultivation. 

Throughout  this  entire  section  cotton,  corn,  oats,  sorghum,  peas, 
potatoes,  especially  swet-t  potatoes,  are  the  staple  crops;  the  culture  of 
tobacco  has  been  lately  introduced  with  success.  Upon  the  rich  allu- 
vions and  the  reclaimed  lake  and  swamp  lands,  corn,  with  peas  planted 
in  the  intervals  between  the  c  "/rn,  forms  the  exclusive  crop.  Occasionally 
on  the  broad  low-grounds  of  the  Roanoke,  wheat  is  grown  to  a  con- 
sider.ible  extent.  In  the  counties  on  the  north  of  Albemarle  Sound  it 
is  one  of  the  staple  crops.  On  the  low-grounds  of  the  lower  Cape  Fear 
rice  has  long  been  the  staple  crop,  and  during  recent  years  its  culture 
has  been  extended  northward  along  the  low  lying  lands  of  the  rivers 
and  sounds.  The  upland  variety  of  rice  has  been  introduced  within  a 
few  years  pist  with  entire  success.  The  cultivation  of  jute  also  has 
been  the  subject  of  experiment  with  like  success,  and  it  only  needs 
proper  encouragement  to  be  grown  to  any  extent.  This  section  is 
everywhere  underlaiil  with  marl — a  mixture  of  carbonate  of  lime  and 
clay  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  the  imbedded  shells — sufficient 
in  quantity,  when  raised  and  applied  to  the  surface,  to  bring  it  to  a 
high  pitch  of  fertility  a;id  maintain  it  so.   . 

■  The  only  metallic  substances  that  have  been  found  within  this  section 
are  some  of  the  ores  of  iron — the  bisuljihuret,  hydratcd  oxide,  and  sul- 
phate, or  copperas. 

In  the  counties  of  Du})lin  and  Sampson  valuable  deposits  of  phos- 
phates have  been  discovered,  which  are  now  being  mined  and  ground 
for  fertilizing  purposes.  They  are  known  to  exist  in  the  adjoining 
counties,  but  to  what  extent  has  not  been  yet  ascertained.  From  the 
similarity  of  the  geological  conditions  throughout  the  Eastern  Section, 
there  is  little  doubt  that  a  systematic  ex})loration  there  will  lead  to  fur- 
ther extensive  discoveries. 

The  use  of  marl,  on  account  of  its  lower  value  in  comparison  with 
its  bulk  and  consequent  cost  of  transportation,  must  be  mainly,  if  not 
whollv,  confined  to  the  section  in  which  it  is  found.     Phosphates,  on 


EASTERN   SECTION.  15 

the  other  hand,  on  account  of  their  high  fertihzing  power,  admit  of 
transportation  to  any  distance,  and  may  be  used  anywhere. 

Dr.  Emmons  remarks:  "The  swamp  soils  of  North  Carolina  show  a 
greater  capacity  for  endurance  than  the  prairie  soils  of  Illinois,  not- 
withstanding the  annual  crops  are  somewhat  less  per  acre;  and,  on  the 
scord  of  location,  we  are  unable  to  see  that  the  Illinois  soils  have  the 
preference.  Nor,  as  regards  health,  are  our  swamp  soils  more  subject 
to  malaria  than  the  country  of  the  prairies."  He  refers  to  the  remark- 
able fact  that  "persons  live  and  labor  in  swamps  with  impunity  or  free- 
dom from  disease."  This  statement  is  fully  sustained  by  the  reports 
of  our  engineers  who  have  had  charge  of  the  construction  of  railroads 
in  that  section. 

The  swamps,  in  their  natural  state,  afford  abundant  pasturage.  They 
are  covered  by  a  dense  growth  of  reeds,  which  supply  excellent  food  for 
cattle,  winter  and  summer. 

That  eminent  agriculturist,  Mr.  Edmund  Ruffin,  of  Virginia,  who 
studied  this  section  of  the  State  with  care,  expressed  a  high  apprecia- 
tion of  the  tidewater  region  for  the  cultivation  of  grasses.  He  said: 
"  There  is  no  better  country  for  grasses  east  of  the  mountains.  In  small 
lots  I  saw  dry  meadows  of  orchard  grass  and  clover  that  would  have 
been  deemed  good  in  the  best  grass  districts."  It  is  evident,  from  the 
humid  character  of  the  climate  in  that  region,  and  from  the  fact  that 
the  heats  of  summer  are  tempered  by  sea-breezes,  owing  to  the  prox- 
imity of  the  ocean,  tJjat  the  conditions  are  such  as  to  favor  the  growth 
of  this  family  of  plants. 

Among  the  resources  for  future  use  along  the  seaboard  country,  peat 
is  entitled  to  a  prominent  place.  It  exists  over  hundreds  of  square 
miles  in  area,  and  to  the  depth  of  many  feet.  At  no  distant  day  it  will 
be  extensively  used,  both  as  a  fuel  and  fertilizer. 

If  the  indications  of  nature  are  to  be  relied  on,  North  Carolina  was 
plainly  marked  out  as  the  land  for  vineyards.  In  the  sober  narrative 
of  the  voyage  of  Amidas  and  Barlowe,  made  in  1584,  to  North  Carolina, 
then  an  unbroken  wilderness,  the  author  tells  us:  "  We  viewed  the  land 
about  us,  being,  where  we  first  landed,  very  sandy  and  low  towards  the 
water-side,  but  so  full  of  grapes  as  the  very  beating  and  surge  of  the 
sea  overflowed  them,  of  which  we  found  such  plenty  as  well  there  as  in 
all  places  else,  both  on  the  sand  and  on  the  green  soil,  on  the  hills  as 
in  the  plains,  as  well  on  every  little  shrub  as  also  climbing  towards  the 
tops  of  high  cedars,  that  I  think  in  all  the  world  the  like  abundance 


16  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

is  not  to  be  found  ;  and  myself  having  seen  those  [)arts  of  Europe  that 
most  abound,  find  such  difference  as  were  incredible  to  be  written." 
Upon  the  visit  of  the  voyagers  to  the  house  of  the  Indian  King,  on 
Roanoke  Island,  wine  was  set  before  them  by  his  wife.  It  is  further 
mentioned  that,  "while  the  grape  lasteth,  they  (the  Indians)  drink 
wine;"  they  had  not  learned  the  art  of  preserving  it.  Harriot,  a  dis- 
tinguished man  in  an  age  of  distinguished  men,  of  whom  it  was  justly 
said  that  he  cultivated  all  sciences  and  excelled  in  all,  visited  the  same 
coast  in  1580,  where  he  was  struck  with  the  abundance  of  grape  vines, 
and  he  was  impressed  with  the  fact  that  wine  might  be  made  one  of 
the  future  staples  of  the  State.  "  Were  they,"  he  writes,  "  planted  and 
husbanded  as  they  ought,  a  principal  commodity  of  wines  might  be 
raised."  This  State  has  proved  to  be  far  richer  in  this  respect  than  it 
is  probable  even  he  suspected.  Grape  vines  were  found  in  ecjual  pro- 
fusion in  the  original  forest  throughout  the  State.  They  often  inter- 
laced the  trees  to  such  an  extent  that  they  were  a  serious  impediment 
to  the  work  of  clearing  away  the  forest,  catching  and  suspending  the 
trees  as  they  were  felled.  At  this  day,  if  a  tract  of  forest  is  enclosed, 
and  cattle  of  every  kind  excluded,  they  spring  up  spontaneously  and 
thickly  over  the  land.  Some  of  the  finest  wine  grapes  of  the  United 
States,  the  Scuppernong,  the  Catawba  and  the  Lincoln,  are  native  to 
this  State.  But  it  was  long  before  the  bounty  of  nature  in  this  regard 
was  improved.  This  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  State  was 
settled  almost  wholly  by  emigrants  from  the  British  Isles,  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  culture  of  the  vine.  It  was  planted  here  and  there  to 
yield  grapes  for  table  u.se;  but  it  was  not  until  within  thirty  years  that 
a  vineyard  was  known  in  the  State.  Within  that  period  several  of 
large  and  a  great  number  of  small  extent  have  been  planted.  Grapes 
in  season  are  abundantly  supplied  for  domestic  con.sumption,  and  ship- 
ped in  hundreds  of  tons.  The  wines  of  the  established  vineyards  are 
held  in  high  and  just  repute. 

All  the  cultivated  fruits  and  berries  grow  here  in  great  perfection 
with  the  exception  of  the  apple.  This,  though  by  no  means  an  inferior 
fruit,  is  yet  not  equal  in  size  and  flavor  to  that  of  the  Middle  and 
Western  Sections.  Among  the  swamps  the  cranberry  is  found  in  pro- 
fusion.    The  melons  are  of  every  variety  and  of  peculiar  excellence. 


KIVEKS.  17 

RIVERS. 

The  river  system  of  the  State  is  determined  by  ils  peculiar  topography. 
Its  rainfall  is  copious,  the  fountain  of  numerous  streams  in  all  sections 
of  the  State;  and,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  rivers  in  the  ^liddle  and 
Western  Sections  have  their  origin  among  the  highest  mountains  and 
on  the  highest  table-lands  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  American  conti- 
nent, these  rivers,  in  their  descent  towards  the  sea,  develop  an  immense 
amount  of  mechanical  power.  Those  in  the  Eastern  Section,  with 
equal  abundance  of  rain  as  a  source  of  water-supply,  but  with  more 
gentle  descent  towards  the  ocean,  offer  facilities  for  navigation  not  pos- 
sessed by  the  rivers  of  the  Middle  and  Western  Sections,  and  towards 
their  mouths  expand  into  wide  estuaries,  connecting  with  the  sounds 
and  bays  which  provide  the  ports  and  harbors  available  for  exterior 
commerce,  foreign  and  domestic. 

Topographical  causes  also  largely  influence  the  course  and  direction 
of  these  rivers.  Those  rising  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  are  diverted  by 
that  barrier  towards  the  north  and  north-west  and  towards  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi  with  ultimate  destination  to  the  waters  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Those  rising  east  or  south  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  or  the  upper 
part  of  the  Piedmont  Section,  after  a  general  direction  towards  the  east, 
ultimate'y  pass  out  of  the  State  in  the  middle  portion  of  the  Middle 
Section,  and  find  their  way  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  through  the  State  of 
South  Carolina;  while  those  having  their  sources  in  the  belt  on  the 
eastern  extension  of  the  Middle  Section  find  an  entrance  into  the  tide- 
waters of  the  Eastern  Division. 

The  general  river  system  is  naturally  divided  into  three  subordinate 
cues  entirely  distinct  from  each  other.  The  most  characteristic  of  these 
is  that  originating  on  the  plateau  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  or  on  its  western 
slope,  the  superior  elevation  of  the  high  culminating  masses  of  the 
great  Appalachian  chain  throwing  off  the  rivers  to  all  the  points  of  the 
compass.  From  this  culminating  height  the  Tennessee  River,  with  its 
length  of  twelve  hundred  miles, drawls  its  chief  supply;  and  the  Ohio, 
with  equal  length,  from  the  same  source,  draws  one  of  its  chief  upper 
tributaries.  The  volume  of  water  poured  out  from  this  mountain  reser- 
voir is  very  great.  Thus,  the  most  western  of  them,  the  Hiwassee,  with 
its  tributaries,  the  Valley  and.  Nottely  Rivers,  draining  two  counties, 
Clay  and  Cherokee,  an  area  of  about  650  square  miles,  passes  into  south- 
eastern Tennessee,  a  powerful  stream  with  a  breadth  of  one  hundred 

9 


18  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

yards,  with  a  descent,  from  their  sources  to  the  State  hne,  a  distance  of 
about  75  miles,  of  from  800  to  900  feet,  providing  great  and  continuous 
water-power.  The  Tennessee  River,  united  with  the  Cheoah,  the  Nan- 
tahala,  the  Ocono  Luftee  and  the  Tuckaseegee,  all  large  streams  with 
a  width  of  from  50  to  150  yards,  with  united  volume  and  resistless 
power,  cuts  its  way  through  the  Smoky  Mountains  at  the  point  of  their 
greatest  elevation,  and  constitutes  one  of  the  principal  branches  of  the 
greater  Tennessee,  which  unites  with  the  Ohio  a  short  distance  above 
the  junction  of  that  river  with  the  Mississippi.  The  united  drainage 
of  the  Tennessee  in  North  Carolina  is  about  1,500  square  miles,  with  a 
united  length  in  this  State  of  300  miles.  The  fall  of  each  of  these,  from 
their  sources  to  the  State  line,  is  about  1,000  feet. 

The  Pigeon  River  drains  a  separate  area  of  about  500  miles.  It  has 
a  course  of  about  70  miles  in  North  Carolina,  with  a  width  of  about  80 
yards,  and  a  fall,  from  its  upper  valleys  to  the  borders  of  Tennessee,  of 
about  1,000  feet. 

The  French  Broad  River  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  Tennessee,  and  is 
fed  by  several  large  affluents,  such  as  Davidson's  River,  Little  River, 
North  River,  Swannanoa,  Ivy  and  Laurel,  and  drains  a  territory  of 
about  1,400  square  miles.  The  fall  from  the  mouth  of  Little  River,  in 
Transylvania  Count}'',  to  the  State  of  Tennes-^ee,  is  about  1,000  feet. 

The  Nolechucky,  formed  by  the  union  of  Caney  River  and  North 
and  South  Toe,  unites  with  the  French  Broad  after  that  stream  has 
entered  the  State  of  Tennessee,  becoming  a  broad  and  deep  stream  in 
size  little  inferior  to  the  river  with  which  it  joins  its  waters.  Its  drain- 
age is  about  GOO  square  miles,  and  its  fall  is  about  1,500  feet. 

Elk  and  Watauga  Rivers  are  smaller  streams,  with  a  course  of  only 
twenty  miles  or  more  in  this  State,  but  chief  tributaries  of  the  impor- 
tant Holston  River  in  Tennessee. 

The  New  River,  alone  of  all  the  rivers  of  the  State,  flows  north,  or 
north-west,  into  Virginia,  and  uniting  its  waters  with  those  of  the 
Kanawha,  empties  at  length  into  the  Ohio.  Its  aggregate  length  in 
North  Carolina  is  nearly  100  miles,  and  its  fall  about  700  feet,  and  its 
drainage  surface  within  the  State  is  about  700  square  miles.  This  is 
one  of  the  larger  mountain  rivers,  of  the  size  of  the  Iliwassee,  Ten- 
nessee and  French  Broad. 

Of  the  characteristic  features  of  these  mountain  rivers,  Prof.  W.  C. 
Kerr,  former  State  Geologist,  has  remarked:  "There  is  a  common 
feature  of  these  streams  that  is  worthy  of  remark,  viz.:  that  through  a 


RIVERS.  19 

very  considerable  part  of  their  very  tortuous  course  across  the  plateau 
from  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the  Smoky,  the  amount  of  their  fall  per  mile 
is  frequently  quite  small,  not  greater  than  that  east  of  the  mountains, 
the  greater  part  of  their  descent  occurring  within  the  gorges  through 
which  they  force  their  way  across  the  Smoky  chain,  so  that  many  of 
them  present  navigable  channels  of  considerable  extent.  The  French 
Broad,  for  example,  has  a  fall  of  less  than  3  feet  to  the  mile  from 
Brevard  to  Asheville,  a  distance  by  river  of  40  miles."  And  he  says: 
"The  dominancy  of  the  western  chain  of  mountains  frequently  asserts 
itself  in  a  very  striking  manner,  notwithstanding  it  is  obliged,  sooner 
or  later,  to  give  passage  to  all  the  streams  of  the  plateau.  The  French 
Broad  is  a  striking  illustration,  as  well  as  North  Toe  and  New  River 
(South  Fork),  all  these  being  thrown  off  by  the  steeper  slopes  and  more 
rapid  torrents  from  the  western  escarpments  and  hurled  against  the 
very  crests  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  along  which  they  wander  lingeringly  in 
slow  and  tortuous  course,  as  if  anxiously  seeking  the  shorter  passage 
to  the  sea;  but  finally  turn,  as  if  in  desperation,  and  plunge  with  roar 
and  foam  against  the  frowning  ramparts  (of  the  Smokies)  which  bar 
their  way  to  the  west." 

There  is,  on  the  south  and  a  portion  of  the  east  slope  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  another  system  which  has,  in  the  course  of  its  streams,  almost 
direct  outlet  into  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  viz.:  the  Chatooga  and 
Toxaway,  which  are  the  chief  head  streams  of  the  Savannah  River, 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Saluda;  and  the  Green  and  First  and  Second 
Broad,  which  unite  to  form  the  Broad  River  of  South  Carolina,  uniting 
with  the  Saluda  at  Columbia  to  form  the  Congaree. 

Another  and  a  more  important  system  is  that  which  drains  the 
northern  half  of  the  Piedmont  Section,  and  which  is  represented  by 
the  Catawba  and  Yadkin  Rivers.  These  streams  have  a  general  course 
a  little  north  of  east  until  they  leave  the  plateau,  when  they  turn  at 
right  angles  to  their  former  direction,  and  pursue  nearly  a  southerly 
course,  and  pass  into  South  Carolina  broad  and  placid  streams,  the 
Yadkin  then  taking  the  name  of  the  Pee  Dee  and  the  Catawba  that  of 
the  Wateree.  Both  of  these  streams  receive  their  chief  affluents  from 
the  north  side,  and  many  of  these  are  large  streams.  Into  the  Catawba 
flow  North  Fork,  Linville,  John's  River, and  many  others  of  less  volume; 
while  the  Yadkin  quickly  gains  consequence  b}'^  the  admission  of 
Reddy's,  Roaring,  Elkin,  Mitchell's,  Fisher's,  Ararat  and  Little  Yadkin. 
The  combined  drainage  of  these  two  great  streams  is  more  than  2,500 
square  miles. 


20  HAND-BOOK    OF    XOKTH    CAROLINA. 

The  Yadkin  receives  in  its  lower  course  a  larger  number  of  affluents 
than  the  parallel  stream  the  Catawba,  lias  a  greater  fall  in  its  course, 
and  drains  a  wider  and  more  continuous  valley.  Both  are  navigable 
in  their  upper  courses,  interruptions  by  shoals  being  infrequent,  and 
Avhich  are  readily  surmounted,  works  to  that  effect  having  been  begun 
nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago,  but  never  perfected.  The  course 
of  the  Yadkin  presents  remarkable  features  of  fluctuation  in  placidity, 
in  width,  and  in  contrast  of  characteristics,  its  upper  course,  almost 
from  its  source,  having  a  very  slight  fall,  then  interrupted  by  Bean's 
Shoals  for  a  mile  or  more,  where  it  expands  to  the  breadth  of  200 
yards,  then  resuming  its  gentle  course,  attaining  a  width  of  several 
hundred  yards,  with  its  flow  interrupted  by  numerous  willow-covered 
islands,  until,  as  it  approaches  the  gorge  formed  by  the  encroachment 
of  the  Uwharrie  Mountains  upon  its  channel,  it  suddenl}^  plunges,  a 
bold  cataract  of  10  or  12  feet,  into  the  head  of  the  Narrows,  through 
which  it  passes  for  a  distance  of  3  miles,  compressed  into  an  incon- 
ceivabl}^  swift  torrent  of  a  width  of  not  more  than  60  feet  and  2  miles 
or  more  in  length.  Emerging  from  that,  it  at  once  expands  into  a 
channel  of  1,000  yards  in  breadth,  soon  loses  itself  in  the  herbage  of 
the  Grassy  Islands,  expands,  a  sea  of  verdure,  to  the  width  of  a  mile, 
again  emerges,  and  passes  on  to  the  South  Carolina  line  through  a 
channel  of  seveial  hundred  yards  in  breadth,  torn  by  rocks  and  inter- 
rupted by  numerous  islands,  many  of  them  large  enough  for  profitable 
tillage. 

Another  important  system  is  that  of  the  Dan  and  its  tributaries. 
The  Dan  is  the  largest  river  in  the  State,  measured  along  its  course 
from  its  sources  in  the  county  of  Stokes  to  its  mouth,  a  distance  of  more 
than  300  miles;  and  is  further  remarkable  as  the  only  river  in  the  State 
rising  in  the  Blue  Ridge  and  reaching  within  the  State  the  waters  of 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  It  empties  into  Albemarle  Sound.  A  large  por- 
tion of  this  river  is  navigable;  from  its  mouth  by  steamboats  up  to 
Weldon,  thence  past  the  rapids  by  canal  to  the  smooth  waters  above 
(Jaston,  thence  by  canals  past  other  similar  obstructions  to  the  bor  !ers 
of  Stokes  Count}',  in  which  it  has  its  rise. 

There  is  another  important  system,  having  its  origin  in  the  Middle 
Section,  discharging  its  waters  into  the  sounds  and  bays  of  North 
Carolina,  and  giving  to  the  people  of  the  interior  eas}'  access  to  the  sea 
and  to  the  advantages  of  exterior  commerce.  This  system  includes 
Tar  River,  Ncuse  River,  Ilaw  River,  Deep  River  and  the  Cape  Fear 


RIVEBS.  21 

River,  which  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  two  hist-named  streams. 
The  Tar  River  rises  in  the  western  part  of  Granville  and  among  the 
semi-mountainous  hills  of  Person,  flows  towards  the  south-east,  drains 
most  of  the  area  of  eight  cninties,  embracing  about  5,000  square  miles. 
Its  fall  from  its  sources  to  tidewater  is  upwards  of  400  feet.  Its  greatest 
water-power  is  demonstrated  ne  ir  Rock}^  Mount,  for  three-quarters  of 
a  century  the  seat  of  one  of  the  largest  cotton  fiictories  in  the  State.  It 
is  navigable  to  Tarboro.  At  Washington  it  expands  into  a  broad 
estuary,  navigable  for  sea-going  vessels,  and  thence  takes  the  name  of 
Pamlico  River. 

Neuse  River  has  its  sources  in  the  highlands  of  Person  and  Orange 
Counties.  It  becomes  navigable  for  steamboats  at  Smithtield  in  John- 
ston County,  all  obstructions  having  been  removed  to  that  point.  At 
Newbern  it  is  2  miles  wide,  and  it  is  there  joined  by  the  Trent  River, 
and  the  united  streams  soon  widen  to  a  width  of  8  miles,  emptying  at 
length  into  Pamlico  Sound.  It  is  navigable  for  vessels  drawing  14 
feet  water  as  far  up  as  Newbern.  Its  length  is  about  200  miles,  and  it 
drains  an  area  of  about  5,000  miles. 

Haw  River  and  Deep  River,  which  unite  at  Haywood,  in  Chatham 
County,  to  form  the  Cape  Fear  River,  rise,  the  first  in  Rockingham,  the 
other  in  (ruilford  County,  and  are  important  from  the  great  water- 
power  provided  by  them,  utilized  in  Alamance  and  Randolph  Counties 
by  numerous  coUon-mills,  upon  which  streams  there  is  a  greater  con- 
centration of  manufacturing  industry  than  elsewhere  in  the  State. 
The  Cape  Fear  River,  formed  by  the  junction  of  these  streams,  becomes 
navigable  at  Fayetteville  to  Wilmington,  a  distance  by  water  of  120 
miles,  giving  an  interior  navigation  not  equalled  by  any  other  river  in 
the  State.  It  became  a  very  important  avenue  from  the  earliest  settle- 
ment of  the  country  for  the  ingoing  and  outgoing  trade  of  the  interior, 
and  was  early  made  the  object  of  improvement  by  an  incorporated 
company  organized  in  1795;  thence  by  the  State,  which,  at  different 
times,  spent  nearly  a  million  dollars  in  attempts  to  improve  the  upper 
waters  above  Fayetteville;  and  in  late  j'ears  by  the  General  Govern- 
ment, which  has  taken  in  charge  the  maintenance  of  continuous  naviga- 
tion between  Fayetteville  and  AVilmington.  The  aggregate  length  of 
the  Cape  Fear  and  its  tributaries  is  about  600  miles,  and  its  area  of 
drainage  not  less  than  8,000  square  miles. 

Among  the  larger  tributaries  to  the  Cape  Fear  River  are  the  Black 
and  North  East  Rivers,  both  large,  navigable  streams. 


22  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

In  the  south-east  corner  of  the  State  are  Luraber  and  Waccamaw 
Rivers,  both  bold,  navigable  streams,  entering  South  Carolina,  uniting 
with  the  Pee  Dee,  and  emptying  into  Winyah  Bay  near  Georgetown. 

In  the  North-eastern  Section  are  numerous  broad,  navigable  rivers, 
draining  an  area  of  about  2,500  square  miles,  and  emptying  into  Albe- 
marle Sound.  Of  these  the  Chowan  is  the  largest.  It  is  joined  by  the 
Meherrin,  the  two  having  a  united  length  of  about  100  miles,  and 
giving  practicable  navigation  into  Virginia. 

The  chief  of  the  other  streams  are  Perquimans,  Little  River,  Pasquo- 
tank and  North  River,  all  navigable,  with  little  fall,  and  therefore 
unavailable  as  water-power. 

The  Alligator  and  the  Scuppernong  are  broad,  deep  but  short  streams, 
emerging  from  the  great  swamps  of  Hyde  and  Tyrrell  Counties.  They 
also  empty  into  Albemarle  Sound. 

Pungo,  Bay  River,  and,  between  the  Neuse  and  Cape  Fear,  several 
other  short  tidal  streams,  such  as  Newport  and  North  River  in  Carteret 
County,  White  Oak  River  in  Jones  County,  New  River  in  Onslow 
County,  and  Lockwood's  Folly  and  Challotte  in  Brunswick  Couht}^, 
contribute  their  testimony  to  the  extent  of  the  water  area  of  the  coast 
region,  and  to  the  evidences  of  a  bountiful,  but  not  excessive,  annual 
rainfall. 

The  total  aggregate  in  the  length  of  the  rivers  in  North  Carolina — 
not  including  innumerable  small  rivers  and  creeks — is  about  3,300 
miles,  and  their  total  fall  is  about  33,000  feet,  or  an  average  of  10  feet 
to  the  mile. 

The  total  water-power  furnished  to  this  State  by  these  streams  is 
estimated  at  3,370,000.  That  furnished  by  the  Roanoke  River  within 
the  State  is  70,000;  of  the  Yadkin  255,000,  giving  a  capacity  to  turn 
10,200,000  spindles;  of  the  Catawba  184,000,  with  capacity  to  turn 
7,360,000  spindles;  for  Deep,  Haw  and  Cape  Fear  Rivers  an  aggregate 
of  130,000  horse-power,  with  power  to  move  5,200,000  spindles,  or  a 
total  of  600,000  for  the  rivers  named,  and  to  reach  this  result  actual 
measurements  were  taken. 

Of  remarkable  water-powers  which  merit  special  notice,  tluit  of  the 
lower  falls  of  the  Roanoke  River,  which  terminates  at  Weldon,  is  the 
most  conspicuous.     Of  this.  Professor  Kerr  sa3's: 

The  whole  force  of  this  magnificent  river,  developed  by  a  fall  of  100  feet  in  about 
10  miles,  could  easily  be  made  available  by  the  canal  which  has  its  outlet  at  Weldon. 
The  power  of  the  Merrimac  at  Lowell  is  not  comparable  to  this,  and  it  is  in  the  midst 


RIVERS — LAKES.  23 

of  cotton  fields,  and  yet  has  never  turned  a  spindle.  Another  fine  water-power  is 
found  on  the  Catawba  at  Mountain  Island,  13  miles  from  Charlotte,  the  fall  being  at 
least  40  feet,  and  having  the  advantages  of  a  similar  canal. 

The  reproach  resting  upon  the  Roanoke  no  longer  exists,  or  is  in 
process  of  effacement,  a  wealthy  company  being  now  engaged  in  con- 
verting the  enormous  power  and  admirable  facilities  into  profitable 
uses. 

Of  another  remarkable  water-power,  already  referred  to  in  the  sketch 
of  the  Yadkin  River,  that  of  the  Narrows,  Professor  Kerr  speaks  in 
particular  terms  worthy  of  quotation.     He  says: 

At  this  point  the  whole  of  the  immense  water-power  of  this,  the  largest  river  in 
the  State,  is  suddenly  compressed  into  a  naiTow,  rocky  gorge  of  the  Uwharrie  Moun- 
tains, a  broad,  navigable  eximnse  of  more  than  half  a  mile  in  width  contracted  into 
a  defile  of  about  60  feet  in  breadth,  through  which  the  torrent  dashes  with  an  impet- 
uosity to  which  the  "arrowy"  swoop  of  the  Rhine  in  its  most  rapid  mood  is  but 
sluggishness  itself.  The  total  descent  of  the  Narrows  and  the  Rapids,  in  a  distance  of 
some  two  miles,  is  not  less  than  50  or  60  feet ;  at  the  termination  of  which,  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Uwharrie,  the  river  attains  a  width  of  more  than  one  mile. 

At  the  time  the  above  was  wa-itten,  the  localit}^  was  about  30  miles 
from  the  nearest  railroad.  Now  one,  recently  constructed,  is  within  10 
miles;  and  as  the  locality  is  within,  or  on  the  margin,  of  the  cotton 
zone,  such  unequalled  water-power  must  fix  the  attention  of  the  energetic 
manufacturer. 

LAKES, 

Which  are  naturally  comprised  in  the  water  system  of  the  State,  com- 
pose a  very  small  area  in  the  water  surface.  They  are  found  onl}^  in 
the  Eastern  Section,  and  are  comparatively  of  small  size.  In  the 
Mountain  Section,  evidentl}^,  in  a  former  geological  era,  they  had  filled 
the  areas  now  occupied  by  numerous  narrow  valleys ;  but  the  barriers 
which  once  confined  them  long  since  gave  way,  and  the  tumultuous 
streams  which  now  drain  those  valleys  give  no  present  token  of  their 
former  languid  life.  In  the  Middle  Section  there  are  now^  no  lakes,  nor 
any  evidence  that  they  had  ever  existed.  They  must  be  looked  for 
in  the  Eastern  Section  alone.  Here  are  to  be  found  15  in  all,  of 
various  dimensions.  The  largest  is  Mattamuskeet,  in  Hyde  County, 
with  an  area  of  nearly  100  miles,  with  elliptical  form,  and  in  dimen- 
sions about  15  miles  in  length  and  from  5  to  7  in  breadth.  This, 
and  Lake  Phelps,  Alligator  Lake  and  Pungo  Lake,  are  all  situated  in 
the  great  swamp  between  Albemarle  and  Pamlico  Sounds;  and  all  of 


24  HAXD-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

them  are  of  smaller  area  than  Mattamuskeet.  In  the  White  Oak 
Swamp,  in  Jones  and  Carteret,  is  a  group  of  small  oval  lakes,  a  few 
miles  apart,  and  united  with  each  other  naturally  or  artificially.  The 
largest  of  these,  North  West  Lake,  has  an  area  of  10  or  12  miles.  In 
the  Gum  Swamp,  in  Bladen  and  Columbus  Countie-,  is  the  Waccamaw 
Lake,  8  miles  long  by  5  broad.  These  lakes,  being  situated  in  the 
highest  part  of  the  swamps  in  which  they  lie,  have  no  feeding  waters, 
but  most,  if  not  all,  of  them  discharge  full  and  exhaustless  streams. 
They  all  have  sandy  bottoms,  and  a  depth  of  from  8  to  10  feet.  Most 
of  them  seem  to  have  originated  in  the  ignition  during  long  continued 
dry  weather  of  the  peaty  beds  which  compose  the  body  of  the  swamps. 
The  aggregate  lake  surface  of  the  State  is  estimated  at  al)0ut  200  miles. 

SOUNDS  AND   BAYS. 

These  have  been  referrtd  to  in  the  sketch  of  the  Eastern  Section,  but 
their  extent  and  commercial  and  economical  value  entitle  them  to 
more  extended  notice.  The  coast  of  North  Carolina,  for  a  distance  of 
nearly  300  miles,  is  separated  from  the  ocean  by  a  succession  of  long 
narrow  islands,  in  width  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  or  more,  composed 
largely  of  pure  white  sand  tossed  up  by  the  winds  into  dunes  or  hil- 
locks; occasionally  there  are  extensive  areas  of  marsh,  covered  with 
coarse  grass,  wild  oats  and  other  vegetation,  forming  the  pasturage  of 
the  herds  of  wild  ponies  which  abound  on  some  of  the  banks.  Through 
this  narrow  barrier  the  sea  makes  its  irruptions  to  the  sounds  within, 
forming  the  inlets  and  outlets  through  which  the  operations  of  com- 
merce are  conducted.  These  sounds  are  of  various  dimensions,  two  of 
them  being  important  inland  seas.  Of  them  all,  Pamlico  and  Albe- 
marle Sounds  are  the  most  extensive,  the  former  lying  parallel  with 
the  coast,  with  a  length  of  abcniL  7<3  miles  and  from  15  to  25  miles 
wide;  the  other  lying  east  and  west,  with  a  length  of  GO  miles  and  a 
breadth  of  from  5  to  15  miles.  These  two  sounds  are  connected  with 
each  other  by  Croatan  Sound,  4  miles  wide  and  10  long,  and  also  by 
the  narrower  Roanoke  Sound.  Currituck  Sound  extends  from  Albe- 
marle Sound  to  the  waters  of  Virginia  through  a  shallow  channel  of  4 
or  5  miles  wide.  By  a  canal  of  a  few  miles  in  length  it  forms  a  con- 
nection between  the  inland  watei's  of  North  Carolina  and  those  of 
Virginia,  and  becomes  the  avenue  for  the  pa.ssage  of  a  very  large  com- 
merce.    These  larger  sounds,  all  navigable  for  vessels  drawing  from  15 


SOUNDS    AND    BAYS — SWAMPS.  25 

to  12  feet  water,  besides  being  important  for  the  carriage  of  a  great 
outward  and  inward  trade,  are  the  localities  of  the  largest  and  most 
productive  fisheries  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  abound  in  o^^steis  and 
other  shell  fish,  and  are  the  haunts  of  innumerable  wild  fowl  of  the 
most  desirable  varieties. 

South  of  Pamlico  Sound  there  is  a  contiuuit}'  of  narrower  and 
shallower  sounds  to  within  a  few  miles  of  the  mouth  of  the  C.ipe  Fear 
River,  where  they  are  interrupted  by  a  narrow  isthmus  of  sand.  These 
smaller  sounds  are  Core,  Bogue,  Stump,  Topsail,  and  others.  All  are 
connected  with  the  ocean  by  numerous  but  somewhat  capricious  inlets, 
dependent  f6r  their  stabiliiy  upon  the  condition  of  the  ocean,  but  in 
their  caprices  offering  no  permanent  obstruction  to  navigation. 

This  inland  water  system  is  connected  with  the  waters  of  Chesapeake 
Bay  by  the  Dismal  Swamp  and  Albemarle  and  Chesapeake  Canal,  and 
with  the  connection  of  the  waters  already  made  through  Delaware  and 
New  Jersey,  can  easily  be  made  pirtof  agreat  interior  waterway  of 
inestimable  value  to  the  United  States  in  the  event  of  war  with  foreign 
nations. 

The  bays  are  chiefly  enlargenients  or  ))rojectiuns  inland  of  the  sounds. 

SWAMPS. 

Of  what  are  known  as  Swamp  Lands,  there  is  an  area  of  be  ween 
3,000  and  5,000  square  miles.  They  li--  chiefly  in  the  counties  border- 
ing upon  the  sounds  or  upon  the  ocean.  They  are  not  alluvial  lands 
or  subject  to  overflow,  but  are,  as  a  rule,  elevated  above  the  adjacent 
streams  of  which  they  are  the  sources.  Some  of  them  are  peat  swamps, 
with  an  accumulation  of  decayed  or  decaying  vegetation  of  considerable 
depth.  The  value  of  these  lands  is  indicated  by  the  character  of  the 
vegetation  upon  them.  The  prevalent  growth  of  the  best  swamp  lands 
is  black  gum,  cypress,  poplar,  ash  and  maple,  and  also  a  luxuriant 
growth  of  cane.  These  lands  have  for  many  years  furnished  an 
abundant  supply  of  timber  from  the  species  of  trees  above  mentioned. 

The  largest  area  of  swamp  land  is  known  as  the  Hyde  County 
Swamp,  although  it  occupies  a  part  of  five  counties.  It  has  an  area  of 
nearly  3,000  square  miles.  Owing  to  elevation  above  the  adjacent 
surface  drainage  is  easy,  and  large  bodies  of  it  have  been  subdued  to 
cultivation,  and  are  among  the  finest  farming  lands  in  the  State,  the 
chief  crop  being  corn.  The  water,  after  drainage,  is  so  near  the  surface 
as  to  make  these  lands  independent  of  drought. 


26  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAEOLINA. 

About  100  square  miles  of  the  great  Dismal  Swamp  lie  within  this 
State.  Dover  Swamp,  between  the  Neuse  and  Trent  Rivers,  has  an 
area  of  150  square  miles.  In  its  central  part  it  is  60  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  therefore  susceptible  of  easy  drainage.  But  the  reclaimed  land  is 
of  very  unequal  value.  The  other  principal  swamps  are  Holly  Shelter 
and  Angola  Bay  in  Onslow,  Duplin  and  New  Hanover  Counties,  Gum 
Swamp  in  Brunswick  and  Columbus,  and  White  Marsh  and  Brown 
Marsh  in  the  same  section.  All  of  them  abound  in  valuable  timbers, 
cypress,  juniper,  poplar,  maple,  oak,  &c.,  and  the  industries  of  shingle- 
getting,  staves  and  other  products  of  the  forest  are  very  actively 
pursued. 

The  most  productive  farms  in  the  State  have  been  reclaimed  from 
the  borders  of  many  of  these  swamps,  and  have  proved  practically 
inexhaustible.  Lands  in  Hyde  County,  cultivated  for  a  period  of  one 
hundred  years  continuously  in  corn,  without  the  application  of  manure, 
show  no  apparent  loss  of  fertility.  The  swamps  themselves,  and  also 
the  country  around  them,  seem  conducive  rather  than  prejudicial  to 
health — the  timber-getters,  engaged  in  the  very  depths  of  mire  and 
water,  appearing  to  be  peculiarly  exempt  from  malarial  poison,  if,  in 
fact,  it  exists  in  the  swamps. 

FORESTS. 

The  forestry  of  North  Carolina  is  remarkable  for  its  extent,  its 
variety,  the  number  of  its  species,  and  also  for  its  contrasts.  For  in 
this  State  is  presented  the  only  instance  where  the  influence  of  latitude 
is  displaced  by  that  of  longitude;  where  the  ascent  from  the  shores  of 
the  ocean  to  the  heights  of  the  mountains  produces  the  same  effects  as 
are  wrought  elsewhere  by  advance  from  the  semi-tropical  airs  of  the 
South  to  the  frozen  regions  of  the  North,  Thus,  standing  near  sea- 
level,  where  the  shores  are  washed  by  the  tepid  waters  of  the  (lulf 
Stream,  we  meet  the  semi-tropical  palmetto  and  the  evergreen  live-oak 
congenial  to  the  soil  and  climate  of  Florida;  thence,  advancing  to  the 
west,  and  ascending  the  summits  of  mountains,  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
above  the  sea,  we  encounter  the  different  forms  of  the  fir,  the  balsam, 
the  hemlock  and  the  white  pine,  clothing  those  summits  with  such 
dense,  sombre,  Canadian  verdure  as  to  give  color  to  the  land.scape  and 
names  to  the  mountains.  The  whole  country  is  thus  not  only  adorned 
with  arbored  forms  of  great  beauty  and  scientilic  interest,  but  witii 
trees  of  great  value  in  all  that  conduces  to  the  gratification  of  human 


FORESTS.  27 

wants,  and  a  powerfal  fector  in  industrial  pursuits  and  in  the  inter- 
changes of  commerce. 

The  many  distinguished  botanists  who  have  studied  this  subject — 
from  Bartram,  who  made  liis  tour  in  1776,  the  elder  Michaux,  who 
visited  it  in  1787,  the  younger  Michaux,  who  came  in  1802,  down  to 
the  later  botanical  explorers,  Dr.  De  Schweinitz,  Nuttall,  Dr.  Gray  and 
Mr.  Carey,  who  explored  the  higher  ranges  of  our  mountains  in  1841, 
and  our  own  Dr.  Curtis,  whose  wide  excursions  were  made  at  a  later 
period — all  agree  that  on  no  part  of  the  American  continent  were  trees 
to  be  found  of  such  beauty,  value  and  variety  as  were  to  be  found 
throughout  North  Carolina.  Many  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  now  familiar 
to  European  ornamental  and  economical  uses  were  introduced  from 
this  Slate;  among  which  are  the  locust  [Robinia  pseudacacio) ;  the 
tulip  tree  {Liriodendron) ;  the  rose  locust  (i^.  Hispida);  the  rhododen- 
dron in  its  various  forms,  the  ivy  (Kalmia  Latifolia),  and  many  others, 
confirming  what  Dr.  Curtis  has  said,  that  "in  all  the  elements  which 
render  forest  scenery  attractive,  no  portion  of  the  United  States  presents 
them  in  happier  combination,  in  greater  perfection,  or  in  larger  extent 
than  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina";  and,  he  might  have  added, 
throughout  the  whole  State;  for  no  portion  of  it  is  deficient  either  in 
the  number  and  varieties  of  species,  or  in  the  size  and  value  of  the 
trees. 

In  order  to  realize  the  extent  to  which  this  i-ichness  of  forest  development  is  con- 
centrated within  the  area  of  this  State,  it  is  only  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the 
distribution  of  a  few  kinds  which  are  dominant  and  characteristic.  Of  species  found 
in  the  United  States  (east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains),  there  are 

Oaks 22,  and  19  in  North  Carolina. 

Pines  (trees) 8,  and    8  in  North  Carolina. 

Spruces 5,  and    4  in  North  Carolina. 

Elms 5,  and    3  in  North  Carolina. 

Walnuts 2,  and    2  in  North  Carolina. 

Birches - 5,  and    3  in  North  Carolina. 

Maples - 5,  and    5  in  North  Carolina. 

Hickories -  - 8,  and    6  in  North  Carolina. 

Magnolias 7,  and    7  in  North  Carolina. 

And  as  to  the  first  and  most  important  group  of  the  list,  Dr.  Curtis  has  called  atten- 
tion to  the  very  striking  fact  that  there  are  more  species  of  oaks  in  this  State  ' '  than 
in  all  of  the  States  north  of  us,  and  only  one  less  than  in  all  the  Southern  States,  east 
of  the  Mississippi." 

THE  PINES,  which  include  all  the  species  found  in  the  United  States 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  are  the  most  widely  diffused,  and  the 


28  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

most  valuable  from  their  numerous  use?,  in  lumber  and  other  products, 
to  which  the}'  are  applied. 

That  variety  which  has  the  most  uses,  and  which  is  also  the  most 
widel}'  diffused,  occupying  dense  forests  — or  what  were  once  dense 
forests — throughout  a  large  portion  of  the  Eastern  Section,  is  the 

Long-leaf  Pine — P.  ausfralis.     Of  this  tree.  Dr.  Curtis  says: 

"The  invaluable  tree  by  which  the  country,  and  this  State  especially, 
have  so  largely  {)rofited,  is  generally  known  among  us  by  the  name 
here  given,  though  it  sometimes  is  called  yellow  pine.  In  the  navy 
and  dockyards  of  the  country  it  bears  the  latter  name,  though  this 
designation  there  includes  also  the  swamp  or  ro.semary  pine,  as  well  as 
the  species  first  described  in  this  list.  It  begins  to  appear  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Virginia,  and  from  thence  to  Florida  it  is  eminently  the 
tree  of  the  lower  districts  of  the  Southern  States,  occupying  nearly  all 
the  dry  sandy  soil  for  many  hundred  miles.  It  is  from  GO  to  70  feet 
high,  in  favorable  situations  still  higher,  and  15  to  20  inches  in  diameter. 
The  leaves  are  10  to  15  inches  long,  on  young  stocks  sometimes  much 
longu',  and  clustered  on  the  ends  of  the  branches  like  a  broom.  The 
cones  are  6  to  8  inches  long.  The  wood  contains  very  little  sajx  The 
resinous  matter  is  distributed  very  uniformly  through  it,  and  hence 
the  wood  is  more  durable,  stronger,  and  more  compact ;  which  qualities, 
in  addition  to  its  being  of  fine  grain,  give  it  the  preference  over  all  our 
pines  The  quality  of  the  wood,  however,  depends  upon  the  kind  of 
soil  in  which  it  is  grown,  as  in  a  richer  mould  it  is  less  resinous.  This 
inferior  kind  is,  in  some  places,  distinguished  as  yellow  pine — another 
case  in  })oint,  illustrating  the  vague  and  indiscriminate  ap[)licalion  of 
the  popular  names  of  our  forest  trees.  In  some  soils  the  wood  is  of  a 
reddish  hue;  and  this,  in  the  northern  dockyards,  is  denominated  red 
pine,  and  considered  better  than  the  others.  I  am  informed  that  trees 
W'hich  have  a  small  top  indicate  a  stock  with  the  best  heart-wood. 

"The  great  value  of  this  tree  in  both  civil  and  naval  architecture  is 
too  well  known  to  justify  a  full  enumeration  of  its  uses,  and  statistics 
of  trade  in  it  belong  ratlier  to  a  gazetteer  than  to  an  essay  like  this. 
But  it  is  not  the  wood  only  that  gives  value  to  this  tree.  The  resinous 
matter,  in  various  forms,  is  shipi)ed  from  our  ports  in  large  quantities 
to  all  parts  of  tlie  United  States  and  to  foreign  countries.  Turjientine 
is  the  sap  in  its  natural  state  as  it  Hows  from  the  tn.'C.  When  it  hardens 
upon  the  trunk,  and  is  gotten  off  by  j)roper  inij)lements,  it  is  called 
scra])inji-^.  of  very  inferior  value  to  the  virgin  article.     Tar  is  made  by 


FORESTS  29 

burning  the  dead  limbs  and  wood  in  kiln^.  Pitch  is  tar  reduced  about 
one-half  by  evaporation.  Spirits  of  turpentine  is  obtained  by  distil- 
lation from  turpentine,  including  scrapings.  Rosin  is  the  residuum 
left  by  distillation.  The  greater  part  of  these  articles  in  the  markets  is 
derived,  I  believe,  from  this  State." 

The  supply  of  this  valuable  tree  is  steadily  diminishing,  as  proved 
by  the  diminution  of  the  receipts  at  the  ports  from  which  its  products 
are  exported. 

P'or  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  the  pine  forests  had  been  the  chief 
reliance  of  the  people  in  whose  section  the  long-leaf  pine  abounded  to 
such  extent  as  have  been  characteristic  in  national  familiar  nomencla- 
ture. For  a  greater  part  of  that  long  period  only  that  was  used  which 
was  conveniently  acce-s-sible,  and  the  products  readily  transported  to  the 
markets ;  and,  until  within  the  past  forty  years,  little  apparent  encroach- 
ment had  been  made  upon  the  seemingly  inexhaustible  store.  Since 
that  period,  railroads  have  penetrated  all  parts  of  the  country,  steam 
saw-mills  have  displaced  the  old  water-mills,  and  when  they  had 
exhausted  the  supply  readily  attainable,  tram-roads  have  been  built, 
connecting  wiih  the  railroads,  the  steam  mills  transported  to  fresh  ter- 
ritory, and  thus  the  work  of  consumption  and  actual  denudation  has 
been  carried  on  to  such  extent  as  to  perplex  and  concern  the  patriot 
and  statesman  as  to  the  measures  to  be  taken  to  stop  the  waste,  or  find 
a  substitute  for  the  destroyed  forests. 

The  White  Pine,  the  great  timber  tree  of  the  North  and  North- 
west, is  found  somewhat  sparingly  in  our  Mountain  Section,  but  is 
inaccessible  to  market  and  is  little  used. 

The  Yellow  Pine — Pluus  mitis — is  kuown  most  generally  as  short- 
leaved  pine,  or  spruce  pine,  and  is  found  from  the  coast  to  the  moun- 
tains. It  is  from  40  to  60  feet  high,  with  a  circumference  of  from  4  to 
6  feet.  The  timber  is  extensively  used  for  house  and  ship- building, 
though  less  valued  for  these  purposes  than  the  long-leaf. 

The  Jersey  Pine,  the  Prickly  Pine  and  the  Pitch  Pine  are  less 
valuable  varieties;  the  second  of  these  common  in  the  Piedmont  and 
Mountain  Sections,  and  to  some  extent  in  the  rough  hilly  country  in 
the  northern  part  of  Durham  County  and  the  southern  part  of  Person 
County. 

The  Pond  and  the  Old-field  PixVE  are  also  common  an  ]  little  valued 
varieties. 

The  Slash  or  Rosemary  Pine  grows  only  on  low,  moist  land,  and 
is  somewhat  sparingly  diffused.     It  is  the  principal  and  largest  timber 


30  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

pine  on  the  low,  flat  bjat  firm  lands  bordering  on  Albemarle  Sound, 
and  also  farther  south.  In  the  rich  swampy  lands  on  Roanoke  River 
it  is  the  giant  of  the  forest,  towering  many  feet  above  the  surrounding 
trees.  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  this  fine  tree  is  becoming  rare;  but 
the  attraction  to  its  height  and  diameter  was  irresistible  and  must  lead 
to  its  rapid  extirpation.  Some  of  these  trees  were  5  feet  in  diameter, 
and  attained  a  height  of  from  150  to  170  feet. 

The  Cypress — Taxodium  distichum  —  is  found  exclusively  in  the 
Eas'ern  Section,  growing  in  swamps,  frequently  rising  out  of  the  water, 
in  w'hich  location  it  appears  surrounded  by  its  singular  grouping  of 
"cv  press  knees,"  rising  in  sharp,  naked  cones  to  the  height  of  from  1  to 
3  feet,  and  awaking  curious  specula  i'in  as  to  their  uses  in  the  economy 
of  the  growth  of  »he  parent  tree  The  height  of  the  cypress  tree  is 
from  60  to  100  feet,  with  a  circumference  above  its  swollen  base  of  from 
20  to  35  feet.  The  wood  is  strong  and  elastic,  fine-grained,  with  liitle 
rosin,  but  very  fragrant.  It  is  liitle  affected  by  heat  or  moisture,  and 
is  very  durable.  It  is  deciduous.  It  is  largely  used  for  shingles  and 
wooden-ware,  and  often  for  the  frame  and  woodwork  of  houses. 

A  tree  similar  in  its  uses  to  the  cypress  is  the  White  Cedar — 
Cupressus  ihyoides — known  generally,  though  improperly  in  its  botanical 
relation,  as  juni{)er.  In  this  State  it  is  found  in  the  Eastern  Section 
exclusively,  and  is  confined  to  swamps.  It  is  an  evergreen,  with  rich 
foliage  and  strikingly  picturesque  form,  and  is  from  70  to  80  feet  high, 
with  a  diameter  of  from  2  to  3  feet.  The  wood  is  fine-grained,  liglit, 
easily  worked,  fragrant,  and  in  color  of  a  light,  rosy  pink.  It  is  used 
in  the  making  of  shingles,  which  are  preferred  above  all  others  for  their 
freedom  from  splitting  and  their  durability.  They  are  largely  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  churns  and  pails,  and  are  the  chief  stock  used  by 
the  recently  established  bucket  factories  in  the  State. 

Somewhat  similar  to  the  juniper  is  the  Hemlock  Spruce — AMcs 
Canadensis — known  in  our  mountains  almost  universally  as  spruce 
pine.  It  is  confined  to  the  mountains,  and  found  on  the  margins  of 
torrents,  or  diffused,  somewhat  thickly,  through  the  cold  swamps.  The 
younger  trees  possess  much  beauty  in  light-spreading  sj)ray,  feathery 
foliage  and  lively  color,  and  as  ornamental  trees  are  unsurpassed  in 
charm,  liut  in  the  older  trees  the  limbs  are  short  and  few,  and  the 
foliage  is  confined  to  the  upper  extremities,  thougii  still  a  tree  of  savage 
picturesqueness.  The  height  often  attained  is  from  80  to  00  feet,  with 
a  diameter  of  from  3  to  0  feet.     The  timber  is  lijzht  and  somewhat 


FORESTS.  31 

porous,  but  is  often  used  in  the  interior  work  of  buildings.  Its  bark  is 
valuable  in  tanning,  but  the  forests  of  the  spruce  pine  or  hemlock  are 
not  of  sufficient  density  in  this  State  to  rival  other  and  more  prolific 
sources  of  the  supply  of  tan-baik. 

The  Balsam  Fir — Abies  Frqscri — is  one  of  those  semi-Arctic  trees 
which  testify  equally  to  high  latitude  or  to  great  altitude  of  locality; 
for  it  is  found  only  on  mountains  whose  elevation  exceeds  5,000  feet, 
and  seldom  forms  a  forest  at  a  less  elevation  than  6,000  feet.  On  the 
Black  Mountains,  the  peaks  of  which  all  exceed  this  latter  elevation,  it 
covers  the  ground  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  forest  trees,  and  its 
sombre  hue  gives  a  name  to  that  stately  group.  It  is  found  on  the 
highest  summits  of  the  Balsam  Mountains,  between  the  counties  of 
Jackson  and  Haywood,  and  gives  that  range  its  characteristic  name. 
It  is  found  also  on  the  high  summits  of  the  Smoky  Mountains,  there 
intermingled  with  deciduous  trees;  and  also  there  attaining,  in  this 
State,  its  greatest  size,  being  from  75  to  100  feet  in  height  and  2  feet  in 
diameter,  while  elsewhere  the  height  is  not  more  than  50  feet  and  the 
diameter  18  to  20  inches.  The  wood  is  white,  soft  and  easily  worked, 
yet  little  used  because  of  its  inaccessibility.  From  the  smooth  bark  of 
this  species  issues  a  clear  thin  liquid,  known  as  balsam,  of  an  acrid  taste, 
used  as  an  ointment  on  cuts  and  sores,  and  also  as  an  internal  remedy 
in  pulmonary  and  kidney  troubles.  It  is  found  in  small  thin  blisters 
which  appear  on  the  bark  of  the  tree  from  top  to  bottom,  and  from 
each  of  which  is  obtained  about  half  a  teaspoonful  of  the  liquid  by 
the  tedious  process  of  perforating  each  blister  with  a  small  horn  or 
metal  scoop. 

The  tree  has  a  close  pyramidal  top,  and  is  densely  covered  with 
plumes  of  flat  narrow  leaves,  green  above  and  white  beneath,  and  very 
attractive  in  their  light  feathery  forms  and  disposition. 

Another  variety,  the  Black  Spruce — A. nigra — is  found  intermingled 
with  A.  Fraseri,  of  similar  form,  but  of  smaller  dimensions.  Its  bark 
is  somewhat  rough,  and  it  exudes  no  balsam.  The  wood  is  strong, 
light  and  elastic,  and  is  much  used  at  the  North  and  abroad  for  yards 
and  topmasts  of  vessels;  in  the  future,  perhaps,  to  find  the  same  uses 
in  this  State. 

The  trees  last  named  are  peculiar  to  the  Mountain  Section.  All  the 
others  to  be  specified  are  diffused  throughout  the  State,  common  in 
greater  or  less  degree  to  all  the  sections,  and  will  be  mentioned  without 
reference  to  special  section  or  locality,  with  the  exception  of  the 


32  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

LIVE  OAK — Qaerciis  virens — and  that,  not  because  of  its  abundance, 
but  as  illustrating  the  extremes  of  the  climate  of  North  Carolina, 
which  permits  the  growth  and  perfection  within  its  territory  of  a  tree 
appropriate  iu  its  habits  to  the  soil  and  climate  of  warmer  and  more 
genial  Florida.  This  tree  is  found  on  the  coast  from  the  vicinity  of 
ISouthport,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  as  far  as  the  northern 
coast  limits  of  this  State,  flourishing  vigorously  in  the  sandy  loam  and 
drawing  vigor  from  the  exhilarating  breath  of  the  adjacent  ocean.  It 
is  a  tree  of  spreading  habit,  the  branches  extended  low  over  the  ground', 
the  small  evergreen  leaves  forming  a  dense  impenetrable  shade,  and 
presenting  a  mass  of  foliage  of  striking  beauty.  The  tree  attains  the 
height  of  from  40  to  50  feet  and  a  diameter  of  trunk  from  1  to  2  feet. 
The  timber  is  closer-grained  and  more  durable  than  that  of  an}^  other 
species  of  oak,  and,  before  naval  construction  had  adopted  iron  and 
steel  as  its  principal  material,  was  above  all  others  valued  for  ship- 
building. It  does  not  so  abound  on  our  coast  as  to  have  given  induce- 
ment to  its  use;  and  the  forests,  or  rather  groves  or  specimens  we  have, 
may  long  remain  as  happy  testimonials  to  the  wide  and  happy  range 
of  North  Carolina  climatic  conditions. 

Of  the  other  oaks  it  may  be  said  that  North  Carolina  contains  more 
species  than  in  all  the  States  north  of  it,  and  only  one  less  than  in  all 
the  Southern  States  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

Of  these,  the  White  Oak— ^^.  alba — is  one  of  the  most  widely  dif- 
fused, one  of  the  greatest  in  size,  the  most  pleasing  in  appearance,  and 
one  of  the  most  useful  in  its  application.  It  is  found  from  the  coast  to 
the  mountains;  en  the  coast,  or  in  the  Eastern  Section,  found  in  or  on 
the  borders  of  swamps,  but  in  the  other  sections  diffused  promiscuously 
through  the  forest.  It  is  cluiracterized  by  a  straight  trunk,  compact 
and  rounded  head,  light,  pleasing  foliage,  and  clean,  light-colored  bark. 
Its  height  is  from  70  t)  90  feet,  with  a  diameter  of  from  4  to  5  feet, 
which,  however,  is  not  common,  except  on  the  borders  of  streams,  or 
in  the  Mountain  Section.  The  u.ses  of  this  variety  are  so  many  that  it 
is  universally  recognized  as  the  most  valuable  of  its  species,  being  used 
for  house  frames,  mills  and  dams,  vehicles,  agricultural  implements, 
cooper's  ware,  ship-building,  and  for  all  purposes  where  strength,  dura- 
bility and  elasticity  are  required.  Its  bark  is  highly  valuable  in  tan- 
ning, where  light  color  in  leather  is  sought  to  be  attained. 

The  Swamp  Chestnut  Oak — (^.  Prinus — and  the  Swamp  White 
Oak  —  Q.  disc'ilor — are  slight  variations  of  a  tree  similar  in  size  and 


FORESTS.  33 

uses.  They  grow  to  the  height  of  from  80  to  90  feet  with  corresponding 
diameter,  with  timber  of  great  strength  and  durabiht\%  and  a  foliage 
of  pleasing,  graceful  character,  the  leaves  being  6  to  S  inches  long,  with 
coarse  rounded  teeth  on  the  edges,  with  a  soft  ashy-green  tint  which 
contrasts  them  with  the  usual  vivid  green  of  the  quercus  family. 

The  Post  Oak — Q.  obtusiloba — is  a  tree  of  wide  diffusion,  having 
general  similarity  to  the  white  oak,  but  is  a  smaller  tree,  with  a  height 
rarely  exceeding  50  feet  and  diameter  of  18  inches.  It  has  a  fine  grain, 
great  strength  and  elasticity,  is  largely  used  for  fence  posts,  is  highly 
valued  by  wheelwrights,  coopers  and  ship-builders;  and,  with  the 
white  oak,  supplies  materials  for  liquor  casks  without  a  superior. 

The  oaks  which  appear  to  have  the  widest  distribution  through  the 
State  are  those  carelessly  or  erroneously  classed  as  red  oaks,  but  with 
such  points  of  difference  as,  in  many  sections,  often  in  the  same  section, 
to  command  different  names.     Among  these  is  the 

Spanish  Oak — Q.  Falcata — also  known  as  the  red  oak,  sometimes  the 
turkey  oak,  from  a  fancied  resemblance  of  ifs  leaves,  with  its  three 
divisions,  to  the  track  of  the  turkey.  This  is  one  of  the  most  common 
forest  trees  from  the  coast  to  the  mountains,  and  is  of  a  height  of  from 
60  to  80  feet  with  a  diameter  of  from  4  to  5  feet.  The  outer  bark  is 
dark-colored,  and  the  wood  is  reddish  and  coarse-grained.  The  wood 
is  not  very  durable,  and  little  used  in  building  or  the  mechanical  arts, 
but  the  bark  is  highly  valued  for  its  excellent  qualities  in  tanning. 

The  Black  Oak — Q.  Tindoria — of  the  same  family,  differs  from  the 
preceding  in  having  a  deeply  furrowed  dark  bark,  and  the  leaves, 
which  are  cut  into  several  divisions,  from  5  to  7,  and  also  from  the 
number  of  small  glands  which  roughen  the  surface  in  the  spring  and 
part  of  the  summer.  This  tree  attains  a  height  of  from  80  to  90  feet, 
with  a  diameter  of  4  to  5  feet.  The  wood  is  reddish  and  coarse- 
grained, but  is  stronger  than  others  of  its  family,  and,  as  a  building 
material,  is  often  used  as  a  substitute  for  white  oak.  It  is  largely  used 
in  making  staves.  The  bark  is  rich  in  tannin,  largely  used  in  tanning, 
and  is  also  the  material  from  which  is  obtained  the  qucrcifron  of  com- 
merce, so  largely  used  for  dyeing  purposes. 

The  Scarlet  Oak — Q.  cocclnea — of  the  same  family,  is  similar  to 
the  above,  the  chief  external  difference  being  in  leaf,  which  is  more 
deeply  cut,  smooth  on  both  sides,  of  a  brighter  green,  and  turning 
bright  scarlet  after  frost.  Tlie  wood  is  not  durable,  and  the  bark  is 
inferior  for  tanning. 

The  other  principal  variety  of  oaks  is  the  Willow  Oak — Q. 
P/ic//os— remarkable  for  the  narrowness  of  its  leaves  and  its  pleasing 
3 


34  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

form;  it  grows  in  favorable  cool  moist  situations  to  the  height  of  from 
50  to  60  feet,  with  a  diameter  of  2  feet  or  more.  Its  wood  is  coarse- 
grained, and  has  small  economic  value. 

The  Laurel  Oak — Q.  laurifolia — resembles  the  above  in  general 
characteristics.  Its  leaves  are  broader.  This  is  the  shade  tree  of  Wil- 
mington and  other  eastern  towns. 

The  Shingle  Oak— Q-  imbricaria — much  resembles  the  preceding, 
but  is  a  western  or  transmontane  tree,  not  being  found  east  of  Burke 
or  "Wilkes.  It  is  40  or  50  feet  high,  12  to  15  inches  in  diameter,  with 
low  spreading  branches,  casting  a  deep  shade.  The  wood  is  hard  and 
heavy. 

The  Upland  WilloW'  Oak — Q.  cinerea — is  found  only  in  the  sand 
barrens  of  the  Eastern  Section,  and  attains  the  height  of  only  about 
20  feet,  with  proportionate  diameter. 

The  Water  Oak — Q.  aquatica — is  abundant  in  the  Eastern  and 
parts  of  the  Middle  Section,  and  has  little  value. 

The  Black  Jack — Q.  nigra — is  a  small  and  rather  unsightly  tree, 
with  broad,  dense  leaves  and  limbs  often  hanging  to  the  ground.  It 
has  little  value  except  for  fuel,  in  which  capacity  it  is  unexcelled. 

Besides  these  there  is  the  Chestnut  Oak,  a  tree  of  majestic  size  and 
beautiful  foliage  almost  identical  with  that  of  the  true  chestnut,  but  so 
sparingly  distributed  as  to  have  had  few  tests  of  its  value;  the 

Rock  Chestnut  Oak,  found  only  on  rocky  hills  and  knolls,  and  is 
a  handsome  tree  from  the  luxuriance  of  its  foliage.  Like  the  other,  it 
has  limited  distribution,  and  is  little  used,  though  its  bark  is  among 
the  best  for  tanning  purposes.  Elsewhere  it  is  used  for  certain  purposes 
in  ship-building. 

THE  HICKORY,  which  is  peculiar  to  North  America,  is  represented  in  this 
Stateby  six,  perhaps  seven,  outof  the  nine  species  found  on  this  continent. 
The  general  qualities  of  all  of  them  are  alike.  For  use  in  the  mechani- 
cal arts,  and  domestic  uses,  the  hickory  family  is  universally  valued; 
and  some  of  the  varieties  are  esteemed  for  their  rich  and  flavored  nuts. 

For  weight,  strength,  and  tenacity  of  fibre,  we  have  no  wood  sui)erior  :  but  its 
value  is  impaired  by  a  tendency  to  rapid  decay  on  exposure,  and  its  pecuHar  liability 
to  injury  from  worms.  Hence  it  cannot  be  used  in  buildings.  But  the  wood  of  the 
different  species  is  indiscriminately  used  for  axle-trees,  axe-handles,  carpenters' 
tools,  screws,  cogs  of  mill-wheels,  the  frames  of  chairs,  whip-handles,  musket  stocks, 
rake  teeth,  flails,  etc.,  etc.  For  hoops  we  have  nothing  equal  to  it.  These  are  made 
from  young  stocks.  For  fuel,  there  is  no  wood  which  gives  such  intense  heat  and 
heavy  long-lived  coals.  For  this  use,  although  discrimination  is  seldom  made,  the 
common  hickory  is  said  to  be  the  liest,  and  the  bitter-nut  hickory  the  poorest.  For 
timber,  shell-bark  and  pig-nut  liickories  are  rcputrd  tlic  best. 


FORESTS.  35 

The  varieties  are 

Shell-Bark  Hickory — Carya  alba — nearly  absent  from  the  Eastern 
Section,  and  abundant  nowhere.  It  grows  to  the  height  of  60  or  80 
feet,  with  small  diameter.  The  tree  is  valuable  for  its  white,  thin- 
shelled,  well-flavored  nuts,  surpassed  only  by  those  of  the  pecan  of  the 
same  family. 

The  Thick  Shell-Bapk  Hickory — C.  sulcata — is  a  rare  tree,  found, 
however,  in  Orange  County,  and  resembles  the  above,  except  in  the 
quality  of  the  nut,  whicli  is  harder  and  of  less  sweetness. 

Common  Hickory — C.  tomentosa — common  everywhere  in  the  State, 
is  the  largest  and  the  most  valued  of  the  whole  family.  It  exceeds  60 
feet  in  height,  with  a  diameter  of  about  20  inches. 

The  Pig-Nut  Hickory — C.  glabra — is  only  thinly  disseminated.  It 
is  about  80  feet  high. 

The  Small-Nut  Hickory  and  the  Bitter-Nut  Hickory  close  the 
list  of  this  family. 

THE  WALNUT  is  found  of  only  two  species  in  this  State.  The  most 
common,  the 

Black  Walnut — Juglans  nigra — is  not  found  in  the  Eastern  Section, 
but  occurs  in  comparative  abundance  in  the  Middle  and  Western  Sec- 
tions. In  the  Western  it  attains  great  size,  especially  along  the  base  of 
the  Smoky  Mountains,  where  a  diameter  of  7  feet  is  sometimes  attained. 
It  occurs  singl}^  and  is  never  grouped  in  large  bodies.  It  is  sought  for 
eagerl}''  for  cabinet  work.  The  wood  is  of  a  dark-brown  color,  strong 
and  tenacious,  with  fine  grain,  frequently  curled,  and  takes  a  fine  polish, 
and  is  largely  used  for  the  interior  finish  of  dwellings.  The  foliage  is 
handsome,  and  it  makes  a  fine  shade  tree.  The  leaves  are  highly 
aromatic,  and  the  nut,  which  is  of  annual  abundance,  is  rich  and 
sweet.     The  thick  husk  of  the  nuts  is  used  in  dyeing  woollens. 

The  White  Walnut — Juglans  alba — is  the  butternut  of  the  North- 
ern States.  It  is  found  in  this  State  only  among  the  mountains,  and 
there  found  only  upon  bottom  lands  and  river  banks.  It  is  a  smaller 
tree  than  the  black  walnut,  with  smooth  whitish  bark  and  leaves  of 
lively  verdure.  The  wood  is  valuable,  though  the  tree  is  comparatively 
rare  and  little  use  is  made  of  it. 

THE  CHESTNUT,  found  somewhat  sparingly  as  far  east  as  the  counties 
of  Randolph  and  Guilford,  appears  in  the  greatest  abundance  and 
attains  its  most  majestic  dimensions  on  the  sides  of  the  high  mountains 
of  the  Western  Section,  and  on  the  tops  where  the  elevation  does  not 
much  exceed  4,000  feet.  In  such  locations  its  height  is  often  100  feet 
and  its  diameter  from  6  to  9  feet.     Its  wood  is  light,  strong,  elastic  and 


36  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

durable,  largely  used  in  making  rails  for  fences,  which  last  for  half  a 
century.  It  is  also  used  for  making  boxes,  and  has  come  into  use  as 
an  ornamental  wood  both  in  household  furniture  and  in  the  interior 
woodwork  of  houses,  its  color  being  very  agreeable,  and  the  veining 
being  quite  beautiful. 

The  Chinquapin  is  a  dwarf  variety  in  the  South,  found  all  over  this 
State.  It  is  usually  a  shrub  from  6  to  12  feet  high,  branching  thickly 
from  the  ground,  and  bearing  profusely  a  small  edible  nut  enclosed  in 
a  prickly  burr  similar  to  that  of  the  chestnut.  In  frequent  localities  it 
assumes  the  form  and  dimensions  of  a  tree,  some  specimens  attaining 
a  height  of  from  30  to  40  feet,  with  a  diameter  of  from  15  to  20  inches. 

THE  BEECH  is  represented  in  this  State  by  only  one  species — Fagus 
ferrugliica — and  is  a  very  handsome  tree,  with  its  smooth,  mottled  gray 
bark  and  its  shapely  leaves,  which,  even  in  the  winter  time,  and, 
changed  by  the  frost  to  a  delicate  fawn -color,  cling  all  through  the 
winter  to  the  boughs  and  retain  a  delicate  and  very  attractive  beauty. 
The  tree  is  found  rather  sparingly  in  the  Eastern  Section,  though  fine 
specimens  are  found  in  the  county  of  Pasquotank.  In  the  Middle 
Section  it  is  more  abundant.  In  the  Western  Section  it  is  abundant, 
and  there  reaches  its  greatest  dimensions,  being  from  80  to  100  feet  in 
height,  with  a  diameter  of  from  2  to  4  feet.  The  wood  is  white,  com- 
pact and  tough,  of  uniform  texture,  and  extensively  used  for  plane 
stocks,  shoe  lasts  and  the  handles  of  tools. 

THE  BUCKEYE. — This  tree  greatly  resembles  the  horse  chestnut,  an 
ornamental  tree  introduced  from  Asia,  but  scarcely  more  beautiful  or 
desirable  than  its  American  cousin,  which  has  not  been  thought  worthy 
to  be  introduced  into  parks  or  pleasure  grounds.  There  are  two  varieties 
in  this  State,  one  of  which — JEsculus  Jiava — is  found  among  the  high 
mountains  of  the  Western  Section,  and  there  attains  a  great  size.  It  is 
there  a  straight,  tall  and  very  handsome  tree,  with  a  trunk  unobstructed 
by  limbs  or  foliage  for  a  great  distance  upward.  It  is  often  from  80  to 
100  feet  high,  with  a  diameter  of  from  3  to  5  feet.  It  loves  a  deep  fer- 
tile soil.  Its  foliage  is  of  a  rich  deep  green,  and  in  the  spring  it  is 
covered  with  clusters  of  large,  showy,  yellov/ish  flowers,  similar  to 
those  of  the  horse  chestnut.  Its  wood  is  heavy  but  porous,  and  is  little 
esteemed. 

The  Red  Buckeye — uE.  Pavia — is  the  variety  common  to  the  Middle 
and  Eastern  Sections,  found  growing  chiefly  on  the  rich  margins  of 
streams.  It  has  clusters  of  dull  reddish  flowers,  and  except  that  it  is  a 
mere  shrub,  from  10  to  12  feet  high,  it  closely  resembles  the  giant 
buckeye  of  the  mountains. 


FORESTS.  37 

THE  LOCUST — Robinia  Pseudacacia  and  the  E.  Viscosa — are  the  chief 
representatives  of  this  family  in  North  Carolina.  The  first  is  the  larger 
tree,  attaining  a  height  of  bO  feet  or  more,  and  is  found  in  its  wild 
state  among  the  mountains.  The  wood  is  hard  and  compact  and  takes 
a  high  polish.  It  is  largely  used  in  ship-building  for  trunnels,  which, 
instead  of  decaying,  grow  harder  with  age.  These  are  exported  in 
large  quantities  from  Western  North  Carolina.  •  The  wood  is  used  by 
turners  as  a  substitute  for  box  in  the  manufacture  of  bowls,  salad 
spoons,  &c.  The  foliage  is  airy  and  graceful,  of  a  translucent  green, 
and  the  profuse  clusters  of  drooping  white  and  fragrant  tiowers  entitle 
it  to  the  favor  it  has  gained  as  an  ornamental  tree. 

The  Rose  Locust  is  a  shrub  only,  with  foliage  similar  to  the  pre- 
ceding, and  flowers  of  the  same  form,  but  of  a  deep  rose  color.  This 
is  found  in  all  the  sections,  though  that  in  the  Eastern  Section  is  much 
dwarfed. 

The  Honey  Locust  is  distinguished  by  its  thin  foliage,  its  thorny 
branches  and  its  worthless  wood,  but  tolerated  for  the  profusion  of  its 
long  honey-bearing  pods,  much  used  in  making  beer,  and  not  unpal- 
atable as  a  fruit. 

The  Catalpa  is  a  valuable  and  handsome  tree,  of  great  beauty  of 
foliage  and  flower,  and  is  found  sparingly  in  its  wild  state  in  some  of 
the  counties  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  It  is  widely  distributed  as  an 
ornamental  tree,  and,  as  the  timber  is  almost  imperishable,  might  be 
cultivated  to  advantage  for  certain  uses. 

MAPLE. — There  are  five  varieties  of  this  valuable  tree. 

The  Red  Maple — Acei'  rubrum — is  found  in  all  the  sections,  and 
everywhere  welcomed  as  the  harbinger  of  spring  with  its  early  bloom- 
ing, bright,  scarlet-winged  flowers,  and  equally  admired  in  the  autumn 
when  touched  b}^  the  frost,  and  its  leaves  blaze  with  the  splendors  of 
its  crimson  hues.  This  tree  grows  to  the  height  of  40  or  50  feet,  with 
a  diameter  of  2  or  3  feet.  The  wood  is  of  close  fine  grain  and  takes  a 
high  polish.  Its  many  uses  are  well  known.  The  Curly  Maple  is 
not  a  distinct  variety,  but  is  the  wood  of  the  same  tree  where  the  grain 
of  the  wood  has  a  winding  direction. 

The  White  or  Silver  Maple  is  found  only  in  the  mountains,  and 
is  of  smaller  size.  It  is  desirable  as  an  ornamental  tree  from  its  spread- 
ing habit  and  from  the  beauty  of  the  leaves,  green  above  and  white 
beneath.  The  sap  of  this  tree  produces  a  finer  sugar  than  that  obtained 
from  the  sugar  maple,  but  in  far  less  quantity. 

The  Sugar  Maple — A.  mccharinv.m — occurs  abundantly  in  the 
Mountain  Section  and  sparingly  in  the  other  sections.     It  is  a  large 


38  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

and  very  handsome  tree,  with  a  fine  close-grained  wood,  but  from  its 
high  value  as  the  producer  of  sugar  it  is  not  much  used  for  other 
purposes.  This  tree  has  a  curled  variety  like  the  red  maple,  and  also 
another  and  more  precious  than  the  curled  maple,  known  as  the  bird's 
eye,  well  known  in  ornamental  wood-work. 

The  other  varieties  of  maple  are  small,  and  rank  only  a  little  higher 
than  shrubs. 

THE  ASH  is  found  in  several  varieties,  all  of  which  have  the  distin- 
guishing qualities  of  strength  and  elasticity,  furnishing  one  of  the 
most  valuable  timbers  to  be  found  in  the  State.     These  varieties  are 

Water  Ash — Fraxinus  Platycarpa — found  only  along  the  marshy 
bottoms  of  streams  in  the  Eastern  Section. 

Green  Ash — F.  Viridis — found  along  the  banks  of  streams  in  the 
Middle  and  Western  Sections.     The  tree  is  of  moderate  size. 

Red  Ash — F.  Pubescens — somewhat  rare,  found  chiefly  in  the  Middle 
Section,  attaining  a  height  of  from  50  to  60  feet.  The  wood  is  redder 
than  that  of  the  white  ash,  harder  and  less  elastic,  but  used  for  the 
same  purpose:  and 

White  Ash — F.  Americana — found  in  all  the  sections,  nowhere 
abundantly,  thriving  best  along  streams  and  the  borders  of  low 
grounds.  It  is  from  50  to  80  feet  high  with  a  diameter  of  2  or  3  feet, 
with  straight  stem  and  gray  furrowed  bark.  The  wood  is  strong  and 
elastic,  and  is  largely  used  by  carriage-makers,  wheelwrights  and  others, 
and  is  highly  prized  by  those  who  use  it. 

THE  ELMS  are  found  throughout  the  whole  State,  and  need  no  descrip- 
tion. The  largest  and  most  valued  is  Ulmus  Americana,  prized  for  its 
beauty  as  a  shade  tree,  but  its  wood  has  not  much  value. 

Small-Leaved  Elm —  U.  Alata. — It  has  no  beauty  nor  large  dimen- 
sions, but  its  wood  is  tough,  compact  and  fine-grained,  and  is  valued 
by  wheelwrights  for  the  making  of  naves. 

Slippery  Elm — U.  Fulva — found  in  all  the  sections  but  most  abun- 
dantly in  the  Middle.  It  is  from  50  to  60  feet  high.  The  wood  is 
coarser  than  that  of  the  other  species  of  elm  but  is  stronger,  and  is  of 
the  highest  value  in  making  ship's  blocks.  Its  inner  bark  furnishes  a 
mucilaginous  preparation  much  used  in  colds  and  bronchial  affections 
and  for  emollient  plasters. 

WILD  CHERRY — Pnmus  serotina  —  is  found  all  over  the  State,  but 
dwarfed  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  Sections.  Among  the  mountains, 
on  rich  and  cool  declivities,  it  assumes  a  different  appearance.  Its 
trunk,  no  longer  crooked  and  distorted,  erects  itself  to  the  height  of 
from  70  to  100  feet,  straight  as  an  arrow,  and  without  a  limb  for  three- 


FORESTS.  39 

fourths  of  its  height  above  tlie  ground ;  the  diameter  is  from  3  to  5 
feet.  The  wood  is  of  a  light  red  tint,  compact  and  close-grained,  and 
little  apt  to  warp  or  shrink.  It  is  highly  valued  for  cabinet  work, 
being  equal  to  some  of  the  most  highly  prized  foreign  woods,  and  since 
the  mountain  forests  have  been  made  accessible  by  the  construction  of 
railroads,  the  demand  for  cherry  timber  has  greatly  increased.  When 
found  at  all  it  is  abundant,  the  chief  component  of  large  forests. 

THE  GUMS  are  useful  trees,  most  common  in  the  swampy  lauds  of  the 
Eastern  Section,  but  some  of  the  varieties  are  found  in  the  other  sections. 

Black  Gvu—Nyssa  aquatica — from  30  to  40  feet  high  and  12  to  20 
inches  in  diameter,  is  found  in  the  swamps  of  the  lower  Middle  and 
Eastern  Sections.  The  wood  has  its  fibres  so  interlaced  as  to  make  it 
difficult  to  split,  and  is  therefore  largely  used  for  hubs  of  wheels,  hat- 
ters' blocks  and  other  uses  requiring  great  toughness. 

Tupelo  Gum — iV.  multiflora — grows  mostly  in  the  moist  rich  uplands, 
and  is  a  larger  tree  than  the  preceding,  attaining  a  height  of  GO  feet 
and  a  diameter  of  2  feet.  Its  wood  is  similar  in  quality  to  that  of  the 
above,  and  in  addition  to  the  uses  mentioned  are  now  largely  used  by 
the  manufacturers  of  wooden  plates,  berry  baskets,  &c 

Cotton  Gum — N.  auriflora — is  confined  to  the  deep  swamps  of  the 
Eastern  Section,  and  is  a  larger  tree  than  the  preceding.  Its  wood  is 
similar  to  those  in  toughness,  but  is  much  lighter  and  is  easily  worked, 
being  manufactured  into  light  bowls  and  trays.  The  roots  furnish  a 
substitute  for  cork  as  floats  to  buoy  up  seines. 

Sweet  Gum — Liquid  amber — is  of  a  different  species  from  the  pre- 
ceding. It  is  found  all  over  the  State.  It  is  from  40  to  70  feet  high, 
and  2  to  3  feet  in  diameter.  The  wood  is  reddish,  compact,  fine-grained, 
and  takes  a  high  polish,  and  is  applicable  wherever  toughness  and 
solidity  are  required.  Its  beauty,  when  dressed,  commends  itself  to  the 
favor  of  the  furniture  maker.  The  beautiful  star-shaped  leaves,  and 
the  fine  shape  of  the  masses  of  foliage,  make  the  tree  very  desirable 
as  an  addition  to  ornamental  planting.  The  leaves  have  an  aromatic 
fragrance,  and  the  bark  exudes  an  aromatic,  transparent  gum,  very 
grateful  to  the  taste,  and  of  medicinal  virtues. 

TULIP  TREE,  OR  POPLAR  —  Liriodendron  Tulipifera  —  is  unsurpassed, 
perhaps  unequalled,  by  any  other  tree  in  the  American  forest.  Majestic 
in  size,  graceful  in  form,  the  proportions  of  the  giant  clad  in  the  vest- 
ments of  a  queen;  mighty  trunk  and  stalwart  limbs  softened  into  gen- 
tleness by  a  foliage  dense,  beautiful  and  singularly  unique,  and  adorned 
with  a  profusion  of  yellow  tulip-shaped  flowers — Hercules  masquerading 
in  the  graceful  drapery  of  Omphale— a  combination  of  size,  strength, 
grace  and  delicacy  presented  by  no  other  tree  of  the  forest. 


40  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  tulip  is  found  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  less  common  and  of  less 
size  in  the  Eastern  Section  than  elsewhere.  In  the  Middle  Section  it 
grows  abundantly  and  attains  great  size.  But  it  most  abounds  in  the 
Mountain  Section,  and  there  it  attains  its  greatest  height  and  largest 
diameter.  Trees  of  ICO  feet  high  and  6  feet  in  diameter  are  common, 
and  instances  of  8,  9  and  10  feet  are  well  known.  Near  Clyde,  on 
Pigeon  River,  in  Haywood  County,  close  by  the  track  of  the  Western 
North  Carolina  Railroad,  stands  a  church,  the  materials  for  the  con- 
struction of  which  were  drawn  from  a  single  tree  of  this  species.  The 
church  is  50  feet  long  by  30  in  width;  all  the  timbers — the  framing, 
the  flooring,  the  roofing,  the  steeple,  and  also  the  shingles — were  pro- 
vided by  one  mammoth  tree,  the  diameter  of  which  was  10  feet. 

The  wood,  white  or  yellow,  according  to  the  character  of  the  soil, 
moist  or  dr}^,  is  yellow  in  the  first  and  white  in  the  other,  and  is  largely 
used  fur  building  material,  for  coach  pauneling  and  other  uses  requiring 
lightness,  strength  and  durability.  The  exportation  from  the  Mountain 
Section  to  the  Northern  States  and  to  Europe,  in  logs  or  sawed  timber 
or  lumber,  has  attained  ver}'  large  proportions. 

Very  many  other  trees,  from  their  abundance,  size  and  value,  might 
be  added  to  the  above.  But  it  is  deemed  sufficient  to  give  such  as  are 
described  as  just  illustrations  of  the  magnitude  of  the  forest  wealth  of 
North  Carolina. 

Of  the  others  it  need  only  be  said  in  addition,  that  of  the  magnolia 
there  are  7  varieties,  including  grandiflora,  and  the  cucumber  tree;  of 
the  poplars  3;  of  the  birch  3,  including,  in  the  Western  Section,  the 
black  birch  or  mountain  mahogany,  a  large  tree,  with  highly  valuable 
ornamental  wood  ;  of  the  linn  or  lime  4,  besides  sycamore,  hackberry, 
persimmon,  mulberry,  holly,  dogwood,  sassafras,  and  others  valuable, 
all  of  them,  in  the  mechanical  arts. 

Of  the  shrubbery  which  falls  below  the  dignity  of  trees  there  is 
infinite  variety;  and  there  is  infinite  variety  in  form,  foliage  and  flower. 
Among  these  is  the  Staartia  Virginica,  found  in  the  Eastern  Section, 
the  only  representative  on  this  continent  of  the  Camellia  family  or  the 
tea  plant;  of  graceful  Ibrni  and  foliage,  with  Inrge,  pearly-white  trans- 
lucent flowers,  silky  on  the  outside,  covered  within  with  a  circle  of 
stamens  and  bright  purple  filaments  and  blue  anthers;  a  very  beautiful 
plant,  worthy  of  cultivation,  yet  unknown  beyond  its  native  habitat, 
and  without  a  popular  name. 

The  Snow  Drop  Tree — Ilalcsla  letrapicra—\s  found  sparingly  in  the 
western  part  of  the  Middle  Section,  and  abundantly  among  the  moun- 
tains along  the  water-courses.     In  some  places  it  attains  the  dimensions 


khoCjwUEuukuu   at-vU  azalea 


FORESTS.  41 

of  a  tree;  its  foliage  closely  resembles  that  of  the  ox-heart  cherr3^  Its 
branches  are  thickly  hung  with  white  or  pink  bell-shaped  flowers,  in 
size  and  shape  similar  to  the  snow  drop  of  the  gardens.  It  appears  to 
be  unknown  to  cultivation,  but  is  eminently  deserving  of  consideration. 

(3f  the  Rhododendron,  or  Laurel,  there  are  four  varieties,  including 
the  splendid  rose-colored  Caiaivbiense.  It  grows  most  luxuriantly 
among  the  mountains  in  cool  sequestered  shades,  covering  large  tracts 
with  impenetrable  "  laurel  thickets,"  the  retreat  of  wild  animals,  and 
the  barrier  to  the  hunter.  The  laurel  is  found  sparingly  east  of  the 
mountains,  small  groups  of  it  being  found  on  the  rocky  banks  of  Mor- 
gan's Creek,  near  Chapel  Hill,  and  on  the  shaded  north  side  of  the 
Occoneechee  Mountains  near  Hillsboro. 

The  Ivy — Kalmia  latifolia — often  called  calico  bush,  conspicuous  for 
the  profusion  of  its  white  or  pink  angular  bell-shaped  and  delicately 
dotted  flowers,  covers  many  parts  of  the  mountains  with  dense  thickets, 
and  is  frequent  in  the  Middle  and  parts  of  the  Eastern  Section  as  far 
as  Fayetteville,  growing  on  the  steep  banks  of  streams  with  a  northern 
exposure. 

The  WiCKY,  a  smaller  variety  of  the  iv}',  is  found  in  the  Eastern 
District  in  the  small  pine-barren  swamps.  The  plant  is  more  erect 
than  the  ivy,  less  dense,  but  the  flowers  are  similar,  though  more  deeply 
tinted. 

The  Azalea  presents  several  varieties,  among  which  are  the  orange 
and  lemon  colored,  peculiar  to  the  mountains,  growing  in  large  dense 
clusters,  and  adding  singular  beauty  to  the  landscape  from  the  con- 
spicuous glow  of  its  masses  of  bloom.  There  is  also  a  white  variety 
peculiar  to  the  mountains,  in  its  growth  clinging  close  to  the  water- 
side, and  of  great  and  delicious  fragrance.  In  all  sections  the  pink 
azalea,  or  honeysuckle,  abounds,  and  in  the  Eastern  Section,  among 
the  pine  barrens,  is  found  the  white  or  clammy  honeysuckle,  of  ques- 
tionable fragrance  and  undecided  beauty. 

The  Fringe  Tree — Chionanthus  Virghiica — often  called  old  man's 
beard,  draped  with  plumes  of  snow-white,  fringe-like  flowers;  the  white 
and  snowy  hydrangea,  the  syringa,  the  mock  orange,  with  flowers 
on  loose  nodding  racemes,  white  and  very  fragrant,  in  size  and  form 
much  resembling  the  blossom  of  the  orange;  the  strawberry  bush 
(Euonymus  Americana),  with  its  long  slender  green  branches,  long 
pointed  leaves,  and  the  fruit — its  chief  beauty — of  a  bright  crimson 
color,  with  rough  warty  surface,  exposing,  when  mature,  bright  scarlet 
seeds,  before  bursting  resembling  a  ripe  strawberry ;  the  sweet  shrub 
(Calicanthus  floridus),  common  in    the  Middle  and  Western  Sections, 


42  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

admired  for  the  vinous  or  fruity  odor  of  its  chocolate-colored  flowers; 
and  the  wax  myrtle  of  the  Eastern  Section  with  fragrant  leaves — all 
these  are  some  of  the  many  plants  which  adorn  the  floral  wealth  of  all 
parts  of  North  Carolina,  and  make  its  sections  so  rich  a  field  for  the 
research  of  the  botanist  or  the  pleasure  of  the  amateur. 

Among  the  rare  vegetable  products  peculiar  to  North  Carolina,  and 
in  it  restricted  to  narrow  limitations,  is  Venus'  Fly  Trap  {Dloncea  mus- 
cipula),  found  only  in  marshy  places  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear 
River,  a  flesh  eater,  catching  the  living  fly,  and  deriving  its  chief 
nutriment  from  the  body  of  the  insect ;  and  the  Shortia,  found  in  a 
very  small  space  in  Alexander  County,  remarkable  as  the  surviving 
member  of  a  prehistoric  flora,  and  found  elsewhere  only  in  Japan. 

CLIMATE  OF  NORTH   CAROLINA. 

It  will  be  conceded  without  question  that  the  influence  of  climate  on 
human  progress  is  supreme,  because,  in  its  happy  or  adverse  conditions, 
are  involved  all  that  relates  to  comfort,  health,  energy  and  success  in  the 
occupations  which  enlist  human  effort.  The  regions  that  most  abound 
in  fertile  soil,  exuberant  vegetation,  and  which  favor  the  production  of 
the  most  valued  and  most  profitable  subjects  of  agriculture,  are  those 
that  most  often  have  those  treasures  closed  against  the  efforts  of  industry 
by  those  extremes  of  heat  and  those  excesses  of  moisture  against  which 
the  physical  frame  of  the  cultivator  is  unable  to  contend;  and  the  most 
prolific  lands  of  the  most  abounding  regions  of  the  world  are  so 
oppressed  with  heat,  saturated  with  moisture,  or  poisoned  with  miasma, 
as  to  make  the  attainment  of  their  treasures  the  evidences  of  their 
cost  in  vigor,  health,  or  of  life  itself. 

That  land  is  a  happy  one  which  enjoys  the  just  mean  between  cold 
and  heat,  drought  and  moisture,  arctic  sterility  and  tropical  exuberance ; 
a  land  in  which  energies  are  stimulated  by  the  bracing  breath  of  a 
tempered  atmosphere,  cool  enough  to  inspire  physical  action  and  elastic 
vigor;  warm  enough  to  assure  the  rewards  of  labor  by  the  certainties 
of  healthful  maturity  and  abundant  yields  as  returns  for  the  labors 
bestowed,  carried  on  under  the  happy  conditions  of  a  genial  air,  a 
friendly  sun,  and  of  a  responsive  soil. 

Such  are  the  conditions  which  North  Carolina  enjoys,  with  no  portion 
of  it  either  too  cold  on  the  one  hand  or  too  hot  on  the  other  to  obstruct 
work  at  any  sea.son  of  the  year,  while  at  the  same  time  presenting  most 
remarkable  apposition  of  the  high  temperate  atmosphere  of  the  North 
and  the  balmy  breath  of  the  semi-tropical  South.     In  passing  from  east 


CLIMATE    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  43 

to  west,  from  tlie  low  lands  of  tiie  coast,  only  a  little  elevated  above  the 
tide,  to  the  high  summits  of  the  mountains,  a  mile  or  more  above  the 
sea,  there  is  found  the  same  gradation  in  temperature,  in  soil,  in  prod- 
ucts, as  if  the  same  territory,  instead  of  stretching  from  east  to  west 
over  a  number  of  degrees  of  longitude,  had  extended  itself  from  south 
to  north  over  the  same  number  of  degrees  of  latitude,  thus  giving  to 
the  State  not  only  a  soil  which  gives  something  of  every  product 
yielded  by  all  the  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  but  a  climate  not 
alone  favorable  to  its  own  people,  but  inviting  the  invalid  from  every 
other  part  of  the  country,  North,  South,  East  and  West,  to  seek  under 
its  recuperative  influences  the  blessings  of  renewed  health,  the  restora- 
tion of  impaired  vigor,  or  the  arrest  of  insidious  ailments. 

The  eastern  margin  of  the  State  is  thrust  far  out  into  the  ocean  and 
brought  within  the  soft  influences  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  assuring  thereby 
not  only  the  vegetation  of  a  more  southern  latitude  and  its  earlier  and 
more  rapid  development — an  important  element  in  the  success  of  the 
now  great  interest  of  truck  farming — but  of  a  climate  so  modified  by 
a  not  excessive  degree  of  heat  and  moisture  as  to  be  more  constantly 
mild  and  genial,  if  somewhat  more  debilitating,  than  that  enjoyed  in 
the  interior  or  farther  west.  On  the  other  hand,  the  western  margin 
lifts  itself  up  to  such  heights  as  to  gain  all  the  advantages  of  a  high 
latitude — a  cooler  climate,  more  invigorating  atmosphere,  more  hardy 
and  more  vigorous  vegetation,  and  a  general  healthfulness  not  sur- 
passed on  any  portion  of  the  globe.  Intermediately  lies  that  great 
zone,  between  the  coast  and  the  Mountain  Section,  emphatically  a  warm 
and  genial  temperate  zone,  with  neither  extremes  of  heat  or  cold,  with 
a  healthfulness  unequalled  over  so  extensive  a  territory,  and  with  such 
general  favoring  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  as  to  emphasize  its 
special  adaptation  for  the  perfection  of  all  the  grain?,  field  crops  and 
fruits  of  the  temperate  zone. 

HEALTHFULNESS. — Malarial  diseases  occur  in  summer  and  autumn  in 
the  Eastern  Section,  and  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  Middle  Section, 
chiefly  along  the  river  courses,  but  not  of  a  malignant  or  dangerous 
type.  And  in  latter  years,  with  increased  clearing  of  the  lands  and  the 
greater  and  more  perfect  drainage,  these  have  decreased  in  frequency 
and  intensity.  The  general  salubrity  of  the  Eastern  Section  is  indi- 
cated by  the  vigorous  and  robust  appearance  of  the  population,  and  the 
numerous  instances  of  high  stature  and  corpulent  person,  not  found  in 
the  same  region  in  the  admittedly  more  salubrious  climate  of  the  Mid- 
dle and  Western  Sections.  These  last  are  remarkably  healthful,  only 
in  the  Middle  Section  along  some  few  rivers  being  found  any  degree  of 


44  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

deleterious  malarial  influences.  In  the  sanitary  department  of  the 
Census  Reports,  it  is  pronounced  that  one  or  two  of  the  three  most 
healthy  localities  in  the  United  States  are  found  in  Western  North 
Carolina  in  the  mountain  region.  And  it  may  be  said  here  that  in  this 
latter  region  pulmonary  consumption  has  never  been  known  to  origi- 
nate, though  that  fatal  disease  is  not  there  unknown.  This  feature  of 
the  climate  has  given  celebrity  for  its  remedial  agency  in  such  diseases, 
and  caused  the  resort  to  it  from  all  jjaits  of  the  Union  of  invalids,  find- 
ing in  numerous  instances  decided  amendment  or  perfect  cure. 

Epidemics  of  fatal  diseases  are  unknown.  The  visitations  of  Asiatic 
cholera,  scourging  in  its  various  visitations  almost  every  other  section 
of  the  country,  have  spared  or  overleaped  North  Carolina,  with  not  even 
the  exception  of  sporadic  cases.  The  yellow  fever  has  only  at  rare  and 
distant  intervals  visited  a  few  of  the  seaports,  notably  Wilmington  in 
1862.  The  grippe,  so  universal  within  the  past  two  years,  has  partaken 
of  the  character  of  an  epidemic,  rarely  however  in  a  fatal  form. 

The  temperature,  the  rainfall,  the  snowfall,  the  relative  humidity, 
and  other  climatic  features  will  be  illustrated  by  scientifically  elaborated 
tables  appended  to  the  end  of  this  chapter.  Here,  it  may  be  said  in 
regard  to  the  first  that  July  is  the  hottest  month  of  the  North  Carolina 
year;  that  for  the  spring  the  average  temperature  for  the  whole  State 
is  57,  for  summer  77,  for  autumn  59,  and  for  winter  41;  the  lowest 
winter  mean  being  at  Boone,  in  the  mountains,  and  the  highest  at 
Southport,  on  the  coast,  which  is  50.  Or,  taking  typical  points  in  each 
section  as  comparative  points,  we  find  the  mean  annual  temperature  of 
Raleigh,  in  the  Middle  Section,  to  be  60,  its  summer  temperature  76, 
and  its  winter  temperature  44,  which,  compared  with  Florence,  Italy, 
shows  the  latter  to  have  respectively  the  temperatures  59,  75  and  44. 
In  the  Eastern  Section,  Beaufort,  on  the  coast,  shows  as  the  mean  62, 
78,  46;  while  Genoa,  Italy,  has  61,  75  and  47.  In  the  Mountain  Sec- 
tion, Asheville  shows  mean  temperatures  for  the  year,  for  summer  and 
for  winter,  of  54,  71,  38,  compared  with  Venice,  Italy,  which  has  55, 
73,38 — an  unexpected  similarity  of  temperature  with  that  of  far-famed 
sunny  Italy. 

The  cold  of  our  winters  is  never  prolonged  and  rarely  excessive— in 
the  Eastern  and  Middle  Sections  rarely  falling  below  10"^  Fahrenheit, 
though  in  the  latter  it  has  reached  zero.  In  the  mountain  plateaus  it 
is  somewhat  colder,  there  being  a  difference  of  about  10°  in  favor  of 
the  Middle  Section.  The  heat  in  summer  is  not  near  so  excessive  in 
mid-summer  as  in  the  States  farther  north;  and  while  these  are  sub- 
jected to  brief  epidemics  of  deadly  sunstroke,  here  it  is  ver}--  rarely 
experienced. 


CLIMATE    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  45 

THE  RAINFALL  varies  throughout  the  State  with  the  different  sections. 
For  the  whole  State  the  average  varies  Httle  from  53  inches,  annually, 
subject  to  the  fluctuations  of  what  may  be  called  wet  or  dry  years;  for 
there  is  no  fixed  uniformity,  though  observations  made  through  a  long 
series  of  years  gives  the  average  here  stated.  The]  average  for  the 
Mountain  Section  is  the  smallest,  that  of  the  Eastern  and  Coast  Section 
the  greatest,  and  that  of  the  Middle  Section  intermediate  between  the 
two.     More  minute  details  will  be  given  farther  on. 

SNOW. — So  far  as  observations  have  gone,  the  average  annual  snow- 
fall in  the  State  is  assumed  to  be  6  inches.  The  amount  in  the  Eastern 
or  Coast  Section  is  hardly  appreciable,  4  inches  in  the  Mountain,  and 
Gh  in  the  Middle  and  a  portion  of  the  Eastern  Section.  In  some  win- 
ters the  fall  of  snow  is  very  small;  in  others  there  occur  single  phe- 
nomenal storms,  so  rare  as  to  be  referred  to  as  eras;  in  such  cases  a 
depth  of  from  2  feet  to  30  inches  having  been  attained.  Contrary  to 
popular  belief  the  snows,  while  more  frequent,  are  le.ss  deep  among  the 
mountains  than  on  their  eastern  slope  and  in  the  Middle  Section.  As 
there  is  less  rainfall  so  there  is  less  snowfall  in  the  Western  than  in  the 
Middle  Section.  North-east  winds  and  storms  are  unknow^n  in  the 
mountains.  The  wind-bearing  clouds  are  from  the  south-east,  dis- 
charging themselves  most  often  in  rain,  with  a  sufficiently  low  temper- 
ature in  snow,  sometimes  of  considerable  depth,  but  rarely  covering 
the  ground  for  a  week  at  a  time.  Upon  the  change  of  wind  from  the 
south-east  to  the  north-west,  the  inevitable  course  of  a  mountain  rain 
or  snow-storm,  there  is  a  sequence  of  violent  snow-squalls,  lasting 
through  24  to  36  hours,  but  rarely  ever  accumulating  to  the  depth  of 
more  than  an  inch.  The  well-remembered  blizzard,  which  ushered  in 
the  meeting  of  the  Southern  Interstate  Immigration  Convention,  held 
at  Asheville  on  Deceiiber  17,  1890,  was  a  signal  and  very  violent 
exception. 

FROSTS  rarely  occur  before  the  10th  of  October,  and  in  the  Eastern  Sec- 
tion are  frequently  delayed  until  the  middle  of  November.  The  cutting 
of  tobacco  is  very  rarely,  though  sometimes,  anticipated  by  a  killing 
frost.  Late  frosts,  as  late  even  as  the  5th  of  May,  the  sequence  of  abnor- 
mally hot  weather,  closed  with  violent  atmospheric  disturbances,  occa- 
sionally occur  to  the  great  injury  of  fruits  and  truck  farms. 

What  is  known  as  the  thermal  belt  of  the  Mountain  Section  may 
properly  be  referred  to  in  connection  with  frost  on  the  principle  of  lucus 
a  non  lucendo;  for  in  this  thermal  belt,  so  elevated,  frost  is  unknown, 
or  so  light  in  its  formation  as  to  be  of  no  detriment  to  fruits  and  vege- 
tation.    This  belt,  or  locality  of  exemption,  is  found  on  both  sides  of 


46  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

the  mountains,  the  most  noted  of  which  is  on  Tryon  Mountain,  in  Polk 
County:  and  so  sharply  defined  are  the  lines  of  exemption  that  it  stands 
out  before  the  eye  a  horizontal  belt  of  verdure  between  parallel  lines 
above  and  below  of  blasted  flower  and  foliage.  Professor  Kerr,  in 
explanation  of  the  cause  of  the  phenomenon,  says:  "Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  it  is  due  to  the  nocturnal  stratification  of  the  atmosphere  of  these 
mountain-enclosed  basins,  the  different  horizontal  belts  having  differ- 
ent degrees  of  humidity  whereby  the  surface  radiation  is  controlled." 
Or  it  njay  be  explained  by  the  conflict  in  those  mountain-enclosed 
basins  between  the  stratifications,  the  lower  stratum,  heated  by  the  raj'S 
of  the  sun  during  the  day,  rising  by  the  force  of  natural  laws  into 
the  upper  air,  the  colder  body ;  while  the  upper  stratum,  under  force  of 
the  same  laws,  continually  descends  until  towards  dawn  they  meet  at 
'a  point  of  equilibrium  when  farther  descent  is  arrested  by  the  influence 
of  the  rising  sun,  and  the  formation  of  frost  is  no  longer  possible.  The 
fact  remains  that  within  the  limits  of  these  frost  belts,  fruits  never  fail, 
and  at  the  height  of  from  1,500  to  2,000  feet  frosts  never  fall.  Such 
localities  are  found  along  the  face  of  the  Blue  Ridge  in  Burke  and 
McDowell  Counties,  along  the  face  of  the  South  Mountains  in  Burke, 
in  the  Brushy  Mountains  in  the  several  counties  through  which  that 
range  passes,  and  at  many  points  in  the  mountains  west  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  In  the  future,  this  phenomenal  section  must  become  of  inesti- 
mable value  in  frait  and  viticulture;  for  nowhere  else  is  there  such 
certain  assurance  of  the  security  and  maturity  of  peaches,  and  other 
tender  fruit  crops,  or  of  the  grape;  to  the  successful  cultivation  of  the 
grape  the  soil  and  the  general  conditions  of  the  climate  ofler  numerous 
inducements. 

THE    POPULATION  OF  THE   STATE. 

This  is  a  topic  of  interest  to  the  people  of  North  Carolina  from  the 
mnrked  fact  of  their  present  homogeneousness,  excepting,  of  course, 
the  important  and  large  element  of  the  African  race,  and  the  smaller 
and  inferior  remnant  of  the  aboriginal  Indian,  still  in  possession  of  a 
large  territory  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  and  the  still  smaller 
body  of  half-breeds  known  as  the  Croatans,  occupying  a  portion  of 
Robeson  County,  and  believed,  fancifully  or  otherwise,  to  be  the  descend- 
ants of  the  lost  members  of  the  lost  colony  of  Captain  John  White,  the 
first  effort  at  permanent  settlement  made  by  Anglo-Saxon  whites  on 
the  American  continent.  Tiie  whites  of  this  State,  now  so  intermingled 
and  blended  by  intermarriage  and  industrial  intercourse  as  to  present 


THE  POPULATION  OF  THE  STATE.  47 

between  them  few  distinctive  traits  of  their  origin,  are  the  descendants, 
mediately  or  immediately,  of  the  dominant  European  races  coming 
directly  to  our  shores,  but  more  largely  the  ofF-shoots  of  the  northern 
colonies  grown  populous  and  powerful  enough  to  indulge  in  that  early 
development  of  the  American  characteristic,  love  of  change  and  adven- 
ture, or  the  more  practical  motive  of  bettering  their  condition  by  the 
acquirement  of  new  lands,  unrestricted  in  limit,  of  nearly  nominal 
cost,  and  with  the  fame  of  unbounded  fertility  and  unequalled  salubrity. 

Of  those  coming  direct  to  our  shores,  the  immigrating  colonies  were 
small  and  infrequent.  After  the  efforts  of  colonization  on  the  waters 
of  the  north-eastern  section  of  the  State,  under  the  auspices  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  and  his  successors  had  failed,  a  long  interval  passed  away  before 
decided  or  successful  effort  was  made  to  plant  other  colonies  on  our 
shores.  Among  the  more  ambitious  and  well  considered  schemes  was 
that  of  Sir  John  Yeamans,  who,  about  the  year  1059-60,  landed  within 
the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  a  body  of  several  hundred  colonists 
of  English  birth  or  descent  from  the  island  of  Barbadoes.  A  settlement 
at  about  the  same  spot  had  previously  been  made  b}'-  adventurers  from 
New  England,  who  thus  made  this  section  favorably  known,  and  who 
eventually  abandoned  it,  disappointed  in  over- wrought  expectation. 
In  like  manner  the  colony  of  Sir  John,  or  the  larger  body  of  it,  moved 
tirst  to  Port  Royal,  in  South  Carolina,  and  subsequently  to  the  spot 
where  they  founded  the  present  city  of  Charleston,  but  leaving  behind 
them  the  impress  of  a  good  name  and  a  high  character,  permanently 
stamped  and  manifesting  itself  upon  their  descendants  in  the  present 
city  of  Wilmington  and  other  points  on  the  lower  Cape  Fear. 

In  1709  the  Baron  De  Graffenreid,  with  a  colony  of  Swiss,  estab- 
lished himself  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  Neuse  and  Trent,  and 
there  founded  the  present  city  of  Newbern — a  settlement  destined  to 
be  permanent,  but  of  slow  growth,  and  receiving  few  farther  accessions 
from  the  native  land  of  the  founder. 

A  small  colony  of  Huguenots  found  a  refuge  from  persecution  in  the 
same  section,  but,  beyond  the  impress  of  their  principles  and  their 
names,  contributed  only  in  small  degree  to  the  settlement  of  North 
Carolina. 

Perhaps  the  largest  body  of  native  Europeans  coming  approximately 
at  one  time,  and  constituting  a  distinctive  foreign  element,  was  the 
Scotch  or  Highland  colony,  which  occupied  the  country  along  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Cape  Fear,  now  known  as  the  counties  of  Bladen,  Cum- 
berland, Moore,  Robeson,  Richmond  and  Harnett.  These  came,  some 
voluntarily,  most  of  them  by  compulsion,  after  the  disastrous  defeat  of 


48  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Culloden  in  1746.  They  have  also  blended  with  the  otlier  European 
families,  but  still  retain  in  marked  degree  their  national  characteristics 
of  piety,  morality,  and  care  of  education. 

The  Lords  Proprietors,  through  their  influence  and  inducements 
offered,  added  to  the  population,  which,  however,  came  in  singly  or  in 
small  groups  and  increased  slowly,  though  early  in  the  colonial  history 
making  the  Eastern  Section  the  most  populous  in  the  State. 

The  other  chief  elements  of  settlement  were  refugees  from  religious 
persecution  in  Virginia,  who  gradually  filled  up  the  north-eastern 
peninsula  around  the  waters  of  Albemarle  Sound  and  contiguous  ter- 
ritory. In  process  of  time  bodies  of  immigrants  arrived  from  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  hearing  of  the  rich  lands  and  fine  climate  of 
the  upper  country.  Some  bodies  of  these  were  of  German  descent.  A 
still  larger  body  was  Scotch-Irish.  Both  planted  themselves  in  harmo- 
nious contiguity  from  Orange  County  on  the  east  to  Catawba  County — as 
that  county  became  eventually  known — along  the  rich  bottoms  or  the 
finely  timbered  uplands  of  the  Eno,  the  Yadkin  and  the  Catawba 
Rivers,  and  became  the  foundation  of  that  population  destined  to  prove 
in  coming  years  its  love  of  liberty,  its  hostility  to  oppression,  its 
indomitable  courage,  its  wakeful  care  of  education,  its  intense  religious 
fervor,  its  energies  and  its  industry;  a  population,  withal,  so  widely 
diffused  as  to  have  been  greatly  instrumental  in  forming  the  character 
of  the  North  Carolinian  by  the  domination  of  these  leading  traits  and 
qualities. 

The  location  of  his  large  colony  of  Moravians  by  Count  Zinzendorff, 
in  1754,  in  the  present  county  of  Forsyth,  is  the  only  instance  of 
attempted  complete  isolation,  of  the  seclusion  of  an  entire  colony,  and 
the  culture  of  peculiar  ideas  and  creeds — ideas  and  creeds  more  in 
harmony  with  the  real  aim  and  ends  of  a  pure  Christianity  than 
human  philanthropy  has  often  aimed  to  put  in  practical  force.  This, 
like  all  other  colonies,  has  in  process  of  time  blended  with  the  great 
mass,  but  with  the  distinct  and  triumphant  survival  of  its  nobler 
characteristics — benevolence,  integrity,  devotion  to  morality,  religion 
and  education,  and  that  untiring  energy  which  brought  prosperity  to 
the  wilderness  colony,  and  future  increase  of  growth  and  wealth  to 
those  fine  towns,  Winston  and  Salem,  the  matured,  or  rather  still  grow- 
ing and  maturing  outgrowths  of  the  simple,  pious,  unambitious,  reli- 
gious Moravian  colony. 

Of  the  negro  population  it  suffices  to  say  that  it  is  chiefly  descended 
from  the  slaves  captured  in  former  years  in  Africa,  and  introduced  iuto 
the  South  by  English,  Dutch,  and,  in  later  years,  New  England  slave- 


THE  POPULATION  OF  THE  STATE.  49" 

ships.  Importations  of  slaves  into  North  Carohna  was  very  rare  after 
the  beginning  of  this  century.  The  increase,  therefore,  has  been  from 
natural  causes,  a  genial  climate,  a  humane  public  system  and  the  kindly 
temper  of  the  owners,  a  temper  softened  as  much  by  humanity — very 
often  by  affection — as  it  was  influenced  by  interest.  Through  these 
combined  causes  the  negro  population  increased  until  it  early  attained 
the  ratio  to  that  of  the  whites  it  has  held  and  still  holds — about  one- 
third  of  the  whole. 

Since  the  emancipation  of  the  race,  the  policy  of  the  State  govern- 
ment, sustained  by  a  just  and  humane  public  sentiment,  has  done 
everything  consistent  with  the  existence  of  insuperable  and  ineradica- 
ble ethnical  antagonisms,  to  efface  all  the  badges  of  former  slavery. 
The  negro  has  all  the  rights  of  the  citizen,  and  is  secured  and  protected 
in  the  exercise  of  them,  with  the  same  jealous  safeguard  of  the  law  as- 
the  white  citizen.  He  testifies  before  the  courts  without  question  as  ta 
race  competency;  he  accumulates,  if  he  w^ill,  property,  personal  and 
real;  he  is  admitted  on  equal  terms  with  the  whites  to  the  practice  of 
the  learned  professions;  he  has  the  amplest  freedom  in  the  exercise  of 
his  religious  beliefs,  and  the  most  absolute  control  in  his  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  His  infirm,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the  blind  and  the  insane,  are 
cared  for  by  the  State  in  institutions,  proportionately  to  the  number  of 
patients,  as  large,  as  well  built,  as  costly,  and  as  well  supervised  by 
competent  heads,  as  those  of  the  whites.  His  education  is  well  provi- 
ded for,  and  though  he  pays  a  little  more  than  one  third  of  the  poll-tax, 
and  one-thirtieth  of  such  property  tax  as  is  assigned  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  school  fund,  his  allotment  of  that  fund  is  in  proportion  to  popu- 
lation, not  to  that  of  race  contribution.  Apart  from  the  colleges,  some,  if 
not  all,  of  which  are  largely  sustained  by  contributions  from  the  North- 
ern States,  the  negro  shares  in  the  Normal  Institute  system  which  is  sus- 
tained by  the  State.  He  holds,  also,  his  Annual  Industrial  State  Fair, 
organized  and  controlled  by  his  own  race,  but  aided  by  annual  appro- 
priations from  the  State  Treasur}^,  and  encouraged  by  the  good  will  and 
active  co-operation  of  the  whites,  thus  having  conspicuous  opportunity 
to  give  evidence  of  his  progress  and  his  capacity  to  maintain  friendly 
rivalry  in  the  industrial  field  with  the  dominant  race. 

The  Indian  portion  of  the  population  is  confined  to  the  mountain 
counties  of  Jackson,  Swain  and  Graham.  They  are  a  remnant  of  the 
tribe  which  was  removed  in  1836  to  the  trans-Mississippi  reservation, 
and  which  obtained  the  consent  of  the  government  to  be  exempted  from 
the  decree  of  expatriation.  They  were  allotted  in  the  counties  above 
named  a  tract  of  about  100,000  acres,  and  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
4 


50  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

former  hab'ts  and  customs.  A  restraining  influence  was  exeried  over 
them,  with  the. purpose  of  bringing  them  gradually  in  conformity  to 
the  usages  of  the  whites.  They  were  taught  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity, instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  the  English  branches  of  learn- 
ing, induced  to  abandon  their  nomadic  habits  and  adapt  themselves  to 
agricuhural  life.  They  have  schools  among  them  ;  and  a  high  school, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  general  g)vernment,  is  established  at  Yel- 
low Hill,  in  Swain  Count}'',  where  children  of  both  sexes  are  best  taught, 
and  also  trained  to  mechanical,  industrial  and  domestic  arts. 

Most  of  the  tribe  are  christianized,  and  maiiy  of  them  speak  the 
English  language,  though  all  retain  and  prefer  to  use  their  native 
tongue.  The}'  are  quiet,  peaceable,  rarely  violators  of  the  law,  but 
generally  indolent  and  shiftless,  and  making  slow  progress  towards  the 
higher  standards  of  civilization.  They  number  between  1,500  and 
1,800,  and  increase  slowly. 

Of  the  Croatans  of  Robeson  County,  little  definite  can  be  said.  Their 
origin  is  involved  in  doubt,  though  it  is  clear  that  they  form  a  mixed 
and  distinct  class  of  the  blended  Indian  and  white  races.  They  may 
be  called  civilized,  engaged  in  agriculture,  trading  and  the  mechanical 
arts,  with  more  of  energy  and  thrift  than  the  native  Cherokees.  They 
are  ordinarily  iavv-abiding,  though  their  vivacity  of  temperament  some- 
limes  leads  to  violent  individual  outbreaks  and  development  of  savage 
and  revengeful  temper,  as  was  illustrated  some  years  ago  in  the  memo- 
rable Henry  Berry  Lowry  incident.  These  people  are  provided  by  the 
State  with  their  separate  schools,  and  they  take  great  interest  in  the 
education  of  their  children. 

The  aggregate  population  of  North  Carolina  by  the  Census  of  1880, 
was  1,399,750;  by  that  of  1890,  1,017,947— an  increase  of  218,197.  It 
is  classified  as  follows:  Whites,  1,049,191;  colored,  5B7,170;  Chinese 
and  Japanese,  15;  Indians  (excluding  Croatans),  1,571. 

The  foreign-born  population  is,  by  the  same  census,  3,742.  The 
descendants  of  foreigners  form  a  considorableelement,but  their  numbers 
do  not  materially  affect  the  homogeneousness  of  the  mass  of  population. 
The  large  bodies  of  immigrants  which  annually  lodge  themselves  in  the 
territory  of  the  United  States,  direct  themselves  to  other  homes  than 
are  to  be  found  in  the  South  Atlantic  States.  The  immigration  into 
North  Carolina  is  largely  from  the  New  England,  Middle  and  some  of 
the  North-western  States,  and  gives  many  and  much  desired  and  much 
valued  accessions  to  sources  of  material  development. 

The  following  table  of  {)opulation,  as  prepared  from  the  Census  Tables 
of  1890,  is  to  be  accepted  as  accurate: 


THE  POPULATION  OF  THE  STATE.  51 


Whites. 

State  total 1 ,055,382 

Counties, 

Alamance 12,688 

Alexander 8,588 

Alleghany 6,061 

Anson 10,237 

Ashe 15,033 

Beaufort 11,869 

Bertie 7,885 

Bladen 8,646 

Brunswick. 6,139 

Buncombe 28,640 

Burke 12,378 

Cabarrus 12,683 

CaldweU 10,737 

Camden 3,347 

Carteret.... 8,528 

Caswell 6,689 

Catawba 16,073 

Chatham 17,214 

Cherokee 9,655 

Chowan 4,010 

Clay 4,055 

Cleveland 17, 30 1 

Columbus 11,804 

Craven 7,175 

Cumberland 14,953 

Currituck 4,731 

Dare 3,362 

Davidson 18,174 

Davie 8,769 

Duplin 1 1 ,  600 

Durham 10,712 

Edgecombe 8,513 

Forsyth 19,433 

Franklin. . 10,755 

Gaston 12,927 

Gates 5,539 

Graham 3,137 

Granville 12,122 

Greene 5,281 

Guilford.. 19,820 

Halifax 9,614 

Harnett 9,453 

Haywood 12,829 

Henderson 11,211 

Hertford 5,906 

Hyde 4,962 

Iredell 19,516 

Jackson 8,680 

Johnston 19,917 


Colored. 

Total. 

562,565 

1,617,947 

5,583 

18,271 

842 

9,430 

462 

6,523 

9,790 

20,027 

595 

15,628 

9,203 

21,072 

11,291 

19,176 

8,117 

16,763 

4,761 

10,900 

6,626 

35,266 

2,561 

14,939 

5,459 

18,142 

1,561 

12,298 

2,320 

5,667 

2,297 

10,825 

9,389 

16,028 

2,616 

18,689 

8,199 

25,413 

321 

9,976 

5,157 

9,167 

142 

4,197 

3,093 

20,394 

6,052 

17,856 

13,858 

20,533 

12,369 

27,321 

2,016 

6,747 

406 

3,768 

3,528 

.  21,702 

2,852 

11,621 

7,090 

18,690 

7,329 

18,041 

15,600 

24,113 

9,001 

28,434 

10,335 

21,090 

4,837 

17,764 

4,713 

10,252 

176 

3,313 

12,362 

24,484 

4,758 

10,039 

8,232 

28,052 

19,294 

28,908 

4,247 

13.700 

517 

13.346 

1,378 

12,589 

7,945 

13,851 

3,941 

8,903 

5,946 

25,462 

832 

9,512 

7,322 

27,239 

52  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Counties.                                                             Whites.          Colored.  Total. 

Jones ..-- 3.885  3,518  7,403 

Lenoir- - 8,517  6,362  14,879 

Lincoln.... .--.  10.028  2,558  12,586 

McDowell... 9,114  1,825  10,939 

Macon 9.436  666  10,102 

Madison 17,095  710  17,805 

Martin- 7,838  7,383  15,22\ 

Mecklenburg 23,141  19,532  42,673 

MitcheU... 12,252  555  12,807 

Montgomery 8,982  2.257  11,239 

Moore... 13,985  6,494  20,479 

Nash - 12,186  8,521  20.707 

New  Hanover.. 10,089  13.937  24,026 

Northampton... 9,224  12,018  21.242 

Onslow 7,392  2,911  10,303 

Orange. 9,705  5,243  14,948 

Pamlico .....  4,767  2,379  7,146 

Pasquotank 5,201  5,547  10,748 

Pender 5,967  6,547  12,514 

Perquimans 4,719  4,574  9,293 

Person 8,251  0,900  15,151 

Pitt.. 13.192  12,327  25,519 

Polk 4,807  1,095  5,902 

Randolph 21,848  3,347  25,195 

Richmond 10,989  12.959  23,948 

Robeson 16,629  14,854  31,483 

Rockingham 15,197  10,166  25,363 

Rowan 17,142  6,981  24,123 

Rutherford 15,073  3,697  18.770 

Sampson 15,960  9,136  25,096 

Stanly 10,629  1,507  12,136 

Stokes 14.386     .  2.813  17,199 

Surry 16,926  2.355  19.281 

Swain... 5,652  925  6,577 

Transylvania 5,368  513  5.881 

Tyrrell 3,000  1,225  4,225 

Union 15,712  5,547  21.259 

Vance 6,434  11,147  17,581 

Wake 26,093  23,114  49,207 

Warren 5,880  13.480  19,360 

Washington 4,961  5,239  10.200 

Watauga 10.180  431  10.611 

Wayne 15.115  10.985  26.100 

Wilkes 20.633  2.042  22.675 

Wilson 10.884  7.760  18.644 

Yadkin 12,421  1.369  13,790 

Yancey 9,197  293  9,490 


GOVERNMENT    AND    TAXATION.  53 


GOVERNMENT  AND  TAXATION. 

The  governmeut  of  Xorth  Carolina  is  a  pure  democracy.  It  is  based 
upon  the  will  of  the  people  as  expressed  in  the  Constitution,  an  instru- 
ment framed  by  them  in  their  sovereign  capacity  through  delegates 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  The  will  of  the  people  of  this  and  of  each 
State,  when  thus  expressed,  and  in  conformity  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States — for  the  will  of  the  people  of  each  State  is  subordi- 
nate to  the  collective  will  of  the  people  of  all  the  States — is  the  supreme 
law.  The  State  Constitution  thus  made  is  the  measure  and  test  of  all 
laws  passed  by  the  Legislature,  and  these  laws  must  stand  or  fall  by 
their  agreement  or  disagreement  with  it. 

The  Constitution  is  a  short  instrument  but  wide  in  its  scope  and 
bearing.  It  contains  a  brief  statement  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  civil  and  individual  liberty,  creates  the  different  departments  of  gov- 
ernment— Executive,  Legislative  and  Judicial — and  prescribes  the 
powers  of  each;  establishes  educational,  charitable  and  penal  institu- 
tions; directs  who  shall  be  liable  to  duty  in  militia;  and  prescribes  the 
rights  of  citizenship. 

The  Legislature  enacts  laws.  The  Judiciary  passes  upon  them  when 
a  question  arises  as  to  their  constitutionality,  and  expounds  them  when 
a  question  is  presented  as  to  their  meaning.  The  execution  of  the  law 
is  entrusted  to  the  Executive.  The  Executive  in  this  State  possesses  no 
veto  upon  the  acts  of  the  Legislature.  When  the  law  is  once  made, 
his  duty,  as  that  of  every  other  citizen,  is  obedience  in  his  sphere. 

The  rights  of  citizenship  is  the  only  point  for  consideration  here; 
and  these  depend  upon  age,  residence  and  previous  citizenship, 

A  citizen  of  a  foreign  country  can  make  himself  a  citizen  here  by 
becoming  a  resident;  declaring  before  the  proper  tribunal  his  purpose 
to  become  a  citizen;  and  taking  the  prescribed  oath  of  allegiance. 

A  citizen  of  any  other  of  the  United  States  becomes  a  citizen  here  by 
changing  his  residence  from  that  State  to  this. 

All  persons  who  are  born  and  continue  to  reside  within  this  State  are 
citizens'  thereof. 

The  chief  privilege  of  citizenship  is  suffrage.  The  Constitution 
ordains  that,  "  every  male  person  born  in  the  United  States,  and  every 
male  person  who  has  been  naturalized,  twenty-one  years  old,  or  upward, 
who  shall  l)ave  resided  in  this  State  twelve  months  next  preceding  the 
election,  and  ninety  days  in  the  county  in  which  he  offers  to  vote,  shall 
be  deemed  an  elector." 


54  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Suffrage  here  embraces  the  right  to  vote  for  every  officer  in  the  State 
from  the  Governor  down  to  constable.  One  only  exception  to  this 
principle  exists  in  this  State — that  is  in  the  case  of  Justices  of  the  Peace. 
These  are  appointed  b}^  the  Legislature.  Logical  consistency  was  sacri- 
ficed in  this  case  to  secure  what,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Convention, 
w^as  a  point  of  far  higher  importance,  namely,  the  sound  administra- 
tion of  justice  in  the  county,  and  the  administration  of  county  finances, 
both  of  which  are  under  the  control  of  the  Justices.  In  many  of  the 
eastern  counties  the  colored  population  largely  predominates.  Newly 
emerged  from  slavery,  and  consequently  ignorant  of  the  duties  of  citi- 
zenship; ignorant  of  the  law  and  therefore  incapable  of  administering 
it;  themselves  without  property  and  therefore  without  the  judgment 
necessary  to  administer  the  finances  of  a  community;  it  was  deemed 
best  to  repose  the  power  of  making  magistrates  in  another  body;  thus 
guarding  those  communities  against  error,  wdiether  of  ignorance  or 
design,  until  experience  and  education  should  make  those  colored 
majorities  safe  repositories  of  such  power.  This  provision  of  the  Con- 
stitution was  inspired  by  no  feeling  of  enmity  toward  the  colored  man  ; 
it  was  a  provision  of  safety  as  well  for  the  colored  as  for  the  white  man. 
The  provision  w'as  made  impartial  in  its  operation;  it  applies  to  every 
county  in  the  State,  whether  the  majority  be  white  or  black,  and  the 
object  was  secured.  No  such  provision  was  necessary  in  the  cases  of 
officers  elected  by  general  ticket,  for  there  the  experience  of  the  white 
population  accustomed  to  the  exercise  of  citizenship  and  educated  to  its 
responsibilities  would  counterbalance  the  inexperience  of  the  colored 
race. 

Citizenship  under  the  Constitution  of  North  Carolina  carries  with  it 
high  and  important  rights  apart  from  suffrage.  It  confers  a  right  to 
an  education  by  the  State,  such  as  will  qualify  the  citizen  for  the  duties 
to  be  performed.  If  he  be  without  property,  it  gives  him  a  right  to 
support  from  the  county,  if  incapable  of  earning  it  by  sickness  or  old 
age.  If  he  have  property  and  is  overtaken  b}''  irremedial  misfortune, 
it  exempts  from  execution  personal  property  to  the  value  of  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  vests  in  the  owner  in  fee-simple  the  homestead  and 
the  dwellings  and  the  buildings  used  therewith  not  exceeding  in  value 
one  thousand  dollars,  to  be  selected  by  him.  The  unfortunate  have 
thus  a  secure  refuge  in  case  of  disaster  in  business. 

It  regulates  taxation  by  providing  that  the  General  Assembl}'  levy- 
ing a  tax  shall  state  the  object  to  which  it  is  to  be  applied,  and  enjoins 
that  it  be  applied  to  no  other  purpose.  It  establishes  an  equation 
between  the  property  and  the  capitation  tax  by  directing  that  the  capi- 
tation tax  levied  on  each  citizen  shall  be  equal  to  the  tax  on  property 


GOVERNMENT    AND    TAXATION.  55 

valued  at  three  hundred  dollars  iu  cash.  The  capitation  tax  is  levied 
on  every  male  inhabitant  in  the  State  over  twenty-one  and  under  fifty 
years  of  age,  and  shall  never  exceed  two  dollars  on  the  head.  The 
effect  of  this  limitation  upon  the  capitation  tax  restricts  the  tax  on  each 
hundied  dollars  worth  of  property  to  sixty -six  and  two-thirds  cents. 
It  further  directs  that  the  amount  levied  for  county  purposes  shall  not 
exceed  the  double  of  the  State  tax,  except  for  a  special  purpose  and  with 
the  approval  of  the  Legislature. 

The  rate  of  State  tax  now  levied  for  the  present  year  is  28  cents  on 
one  hundred  dollars  valuation,  besides  15  cents  for  school  purposes. 
In  addition  there  are  taxes  levied  on  certain  pursuit?,  industries  and 
interests  devoted  to  certain  purposes,  some  in  aid  of  the  general  school 
fund,  some  for  pensions. 

The  following  statement  from  the  State  Auditor's  Report  for  the  year 
ending  November  30,  lt91,sets  forth  the  aggregate  number  and  value 
of  the  various  subjects  of  taxation  in  the  State,  and  the  gross  amount 
of  the  State,  school  and  county  taxes  derived  from  the  same: 

STATE  TAXES. 

Number.  Valuation. 

7,874.295  acres  of  land $107,031,851  $267,579  63 

44,645  town  lots - - ----  34,893,805  87,234  01 

139,005  horses -.' 7,279,768  18,199  42 

101,609mules --  5,790,626  14,426  56 

789  jacks  and  jennies - 41,069  102  67 

87,944goats 29,278  73  19 

627,767  cattle - ----  4,849,192  12,122  98 

1,194,865  hogs - 1,561,553  3,903  88 

383,601  sheep 392,142  980  35 

Value  of  farming  utensils,  etc 12,134,455  30,336  14 

Money  on  hand  or  on  deposit 4,201,447  10,503  63 

Solvent  credits --  20,166,452  50,416  13 

Stock  in  incorporated  companies 2,739,179  6,847  95 

Other  i^ersonal  property - - 15,762,557  39,406  37 

Total  valuation $216,872,374 

$876,265  net  income  and  profits 2,112  34 

Theatres - 405  00 

Traveling  theatrical  companies. 60  00 

Concerts  and  musical  entertainments  for  profit 252  50 

Lectures  for  reward 38  00 

Museums,  waxworks  or  curiosities 48  00 

Circus  or  menagerie — 600  00 

Sideshows 250  00 

Shows  under  canvass,  etc 700  00 

Carried  forward $  366,593  74 


56  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Brought  forward $  366.593  74 

Billiard  saloons. 1,378  00 

Bowling  alleys,  skating  rinks,  etc 518  33 

Public  ferries,  toll-bridges,  etc 248  15 

Livery 625  50 

Itinerant  dentists,  opticians,  etc 100  00 

■Commission  merchants 663  51 

Merchants  or  other  dealers 28,893  53 

Dealei's  in  spirituous  liquors 3,101  87 

Peddlers 1,404  09 

Itinerant  merchants 25  00 

Dealers  in  fruit  trees 15  00 

Itinerant  lightning-rod  dealers 50  00 

Liquor  dealers— Class  3 1 ,500  00 

Tobacco  warehouses ...  2,015  00 

Marriage  licenses 12,312  38 

Subjects  unlisted 198  87 

Delinciuents 529  87 

Arrears  for  insolvents 122  81 

Double  taxes 1 .068  97 

Total  general  taxes $601,249  91 

SCHOOL   TAXES. 

153,486  wliite  polls 299,994  43 

60,832  colored  polls 90,420  34 

Bank  stock 3,278  48 

Eailroad  property 16,971  73 

Oeneral  property— white 283,953  13 

•General  property — colored 8,735  13 

Licensed  dealers  in  spirituous  liquors 70.639  13 

From  fines,  forfeitures  and  penalties 7.080  10 

Prom  other  sources 1,416  48 

Total  school  taxes $712,489  53 

COUNTY  TAXES. 

County  purposes. 691 ,590  65 

Special  county  taxes 202.861  49 

Total  county  taxes $894,451  54 

On  white  polls  there  is  levied  a  tax  of  ^229,904. 32;  on  colored  polls, 
$90,420.  On  general  property  the  whites  pa}'  a  tax  of  $280,904,  and 
the  colored  people  a  tax  of  $8,735.36.  In  addition  to  this  general  tax, 
there  is  a  tax  on  bank  stock,  railroad  property,  licensed  liquor  dealers, 
fines,  (fee,  and  some  minor  sources,  most  of  which  is  paid  by  the  whites. 

The  Executive  power  of  the  State  Government  is  vested  in  a  Gov- 
ernor and  a  Lieutenant  Governor,  elected  by  the  popular  vole  for  the 


GOVERNMENT    AND    TAXATION.  57 

term  of  four  years,  both  ineligible  for  two  successive  terms;  an  Attorney 
General,  a  State  Treasurer,  an  Auditor,  a  Secretary  of  State,  and  a 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  all  of  whom  are  eligible  for 
reelection. 

The  Legislative  department,  also  elected  by  the  popular  vote,  elected 
for  the  term  of  two  j^ears,  and  holding  biennial  sessions.  The  Senate 
consists  of  50  members,  and  is  presided  over  by  the  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State,  and  the  House  of  Representatives,  of  120  members, 
presided  over  by  a  Speaker  elected  from  among  the  members  of  the 
same.  The  sessions  are  limited  by  the  Constitution  to  sixty  days,  but 
may  be  prolonged  on  emergency,  but  with  suspension  of  the  per  diem 
pay.  Extra  sessions  may  be  called  by  the  Governor  should  urgent 
cause  make  it  necessary;  but  such  sessions  are  limited  to  twenty  days, 
but  may  be  extended  farther,  under  the  limitations  of  pay  that  govern 
the  regular  sessions. 

The  Judicial  department  consists  of  a  Supreme  Court,  presided  over 
by  a  Chief  Justice,  and,  in  conjunction  with  four  Associate  Justices, 
forming  the  highest  court  in  the  State.  The  Justices  are  elected  for  a 
term  of  eight  years,  and  are  eligible  to  reelection. 

The  Circuit  or  Superior  Court  is  composed  of  twelve  members,  elected 
by  the  people  of  a  like  number  of  districts,  and  are  elected  for  the 
same  length  of  term  and  the  same  eligibili'}'  to  reelection  as  the  Justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court. 

In  addition  to  these  are  the  criminal  courts  of  New^  Hanover  and 
Mecklenburg  and  of  Buncombe,  having  original  jurisdiction  in  all 
criminal  matters  originating  in  their  respective  counties,  but  having 
none  in  civil  causes  of  action. 

The  above,  together  with  the  magistrates'  courts,  having  jurisdiction 
over  small  sums  and  minor  offences,  and  the  Boards  of  Count}'  Com- 
missioners, having  supervision  over,  the  direction  and  administration 
of  county  affairs,  constitute  the  judicial  system  of  North  Carolina. 

STATE  DEBT. 

The  following  statement,  drawn  from  the  report  of  the  Public  Treas- 
urer submitted  to  the  General  Assembly  at  the  session  of  1891,  exhibits 
the  amount  of  the  bonded  debt  of  the  State  at  the  time  of  the  enactment 
of  the  law  of  March  4,  1879,  "An  act  to  compromise,  commute  and 
settle  the  State  debt." 

These  bonds  include  only  the  obligations  of  the  recognized  bonds, 
those  known  as  the  special  tax  bonds  having  been  declared  unconsti- 
tutional and  invalid. 


58  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  recognized  bonded  debt,  recognized  by  the  forenamed  act,  are 
the  following: 

Bonds  issued  before  May  20,  1861,  the  last  date  of  which  class  is  April  1, 

1861,  exchangeable  at  forty  per  cent $    5,477,400  00 

Bonds  issued  during  and  since  the  late  war,  for  internal  improvement 
purposes,  and  certificates  of  State  Board  of  Education,  exchange- 
able at  twenty -five  per  cent. ..- 3,261,045  00 

Bonds  issued  by  authority  of  funding  acts  of  March  10,  1866,  and 

August  20,  1868,  exchangeable  at  fifteen  per  cent 3,888,600  00 

Total  recognized  debt - $  12,627,045  00 

Bonds  have  been  surrendered  and  exchanged,  as  follows: 

Class  1,  at  forty  per  cent-... .$    5,081,900  00 

Class  2,  at  twenty-five  per  cent.. 2,637,€45  00 

Class  3,  at  fifteen  per  cent 3,332,100  00 

Total  amount  of  bonds  exchanged. $  11 ,051 ,045  00 

New  four  per  cent,  bonds  have  been  issued  as  follows,  in  exchange: 

For  bonds  at  forty  per  cent.... I    2,032,760  00 

For  bonds  at  twentj'-five  per  cent 659,261  25 

For  bonds  at  fifteen  per  cent 499,815  00 


$   3,191,836  25 


The  amount  of  new  four  per  cent,  bonds  issued  embraces  certificates  of  fractional 
sums  of  less  tlian  fifty  dollars  given  in  exchange,  which  are  receivable  for  new  bonds 
of  the  denominations  prescribed  in  the  act. 

The  fundable  bonds  not  surrendered,  are  as  follows: 

Redeemable  at  forty  per  cent $       395,500  00 

Redeemable  at  twenty-five  per  cent 624,000  00 

Redeemable  at  fifteen  per  cent 556,500  00 

Amount  of  old  bonds  outstanding $  1,576,000  00 

The  following  is  the  summary  of  the  two  cla.sses  of  new  bonds  issued: 

Four  per  cent,  bonds $  3,219,100  00 

Six  per  cent,  bonds 2,720,000  00 

$    5,939,100  00 

This  latter  debt,  $■2,720,000,  was  incurred  for  the  construction  of  the  North  Caroling, 
Railroad,  wliich  is  in  great  part  owned  by  tlie  State.  The  income  from  the  dividends 
realized  by  tlie  road  is  not  only  suflficient  to  pay  the  interest,  but  leaves  a  surjilus 
which  is  regularly  funded  from  year  to  year,  the  aggregate  of  which  will  extinguish 
the  del>t  at  the  maturity  of  the  bonds.  This  debt  does  not  now  impose,  nor  will  it  in 
future  impose,  one  cent  of  taxation  upon  the  people  of  the  State.  The  first  amount, 
$3,589,511.25,  therefore  represents  the  entire  debt  for  which  the  property  of  the  State 
is  subject  to  be  taxed. 

The  total  valuation  of  real  and  personal  property  in  North  Carolina  is,  according  to 
the  Auditor's  Report  for  1890,  .$216,872,374.     But  the  valuation  of  property  in  this 


RELIGION.  59 

State  is  known  to  be  from  one-third  to  one-half  below  its  real  value.  For  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  the  true  value  of  the  j^roperty  of  the  State,  an  addition  in  that  pro- 
jjortion  nuist  be  made  to  the  valuation  above  given.  Taking,  however,  the  valuation 
as  given  in  tlie  Aviditor's  Report,  it  will  be  seen  that  a  tax  of  seven  and  one-half  cents 
upon  the  hundred  dollars  worth  of  property  will  pay  the  interest  upon  the  whole 
State  del)t. 

But  there  exists  in  fact  no  necessity  for  such  a  tax,  light  as  it  would  be.  The  act 
under  which  the  debt  was  compromised,  appropriates  certain  taxes  therein  enume- 
rated, known  as  privilege  taxes,  to  the  payment  of  the  iritei-est;  and  by  the  terms  of 
the  act  this  appropriation  is  made  a  part  of  the  contract  between  the  State  and  the 
bondholders,  and  is  therefore  inviolable.  From  this  source  the  amount  realized  is  so 
large,  that  the  remainder  of  the  interest  is  provided  by  a  tax  of  only  four  cents  on  the 
hundred  dollars  worth  of  the  projierty  of  the  State. 

RELIGION, 

The  religious  denominations  of  North  Carolina  stand  upon  absolute 
equality  in  respect  to  the  laws.  The  vigorous  temper  of  the  people 
during  Colonial  days  in  resisting  the  imposition  of  a  State  religion  has 
never  relaxed  ;  and  the  absolute  severance  of  Church  and  State  became 
a  cardinal  and  inviolable  principle  in  the  assumption  of  popular 
sovereignty.  The  laws  and  the  Constitution  extend  no  special  favor  to 
creed  or  denomination,  assuring  freedom  to  all  to  worship  God  according 
to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences. 

The  following  table  presents  as  accurately  as  can  be  ascertained  the 
present  membership  of  the  various  denominations  in  the  State.  Two 
of  them,  the  Cnristian  and  the  Protestant  Methodists,  are  classed  with 
their  denominations  of  other  States,  there  being  no  separate  State 
report : 

Methodist  Episcopal  Conference  (white) 1 18,895 

A.  M.  E.  Zion  (colored  Methodist) 32,000 

M.  E.  Church  (Methodist) 7,200 

Christian  (O'Kelleyites)  in  Virginia,  Georgia  and  North  Carolina 10,000 

Protestant  Methodists  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia. 7,000 

Quakers 4,500 

Lutherans 4, 150 

Roman  Catholics. 1 ,000 

Moravians 2, 000 

Presbyterians 25,553 

Episcopalians 7,751 

Baptists  (Missionary,  white) 170,335 

Baptists  (Missionary,  colored) 150,675 

Baptists  (Anti-Missionary). 9,750 

Baptists  (Campbellites) 6,000 

Baptists  (Free- Will) 6,516 

Whole  number  of  Missionary  Baptists 321 ,010 


60  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

PUBLIC   INSTITUTIONS. 

The  machinery  of  the  State  government  is  aided  or  amplified  in  its 
operations  by  the  assignment  of  certain  special  functions  to  be  dis- 
charged by  agencies  adapted  to  their  performance. 

These  public  institutions  have  oversight  over  certain  penalties 
attached  to  the  violation  of  law,  and  also  of  carrying  out  those  methods 
provided  for  the  cure  or  amelioration  of  mental  suffering  and  physical 
infirmity,  of  those  scientific  investigations  designed  to  elevate  the  arts 
of  agriculture,  or  search  into  the  causes  of  agricultural  disasters,  or  aid 
the  agricultural  population  to  reap  the  surest  rewards  of  their  industr}^ 
by  intelligent  direction  of  their  labor  through  information  imparted 
by  competent  directors;  and  in  general  the  public  institutions  comprise 
all  such  wise  and  enlightened  principles  that  tend  to  enlighten  the  popu- 
lar mind,  add  to  its  prosperity,  relieve  its  sufferings,  mitigate  its  burdens, 
and  practically  illustrate  the  mutuality  of  interest  existing  between  the 
State  and  the  people,  between  the  government  and  the  governed. 

These  institutions  consist,  in  general  terms,  of  the  charitable  and 
penal  institutions,  of  the  Agricultural  Department  and  Agricultural 
College,  of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  of  the  Geological 
Museum,  of  the  State  Library,  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  of  the 
Railroad  Commission,  of  the  Orphan  Asylum,  and,  in  a  literal  form,  of 
the  public  buildings  in  which  to  conduct  the  many  operations  incident 
to  the  institutions  named  above. 

THE  STATE  HOSPITALS,  originally  known  as  the  Asylums  for  the  Insane, 
are  three  in  number — one  for  the  whites  at  Raleigh,  another  for  the 
same  race  at  Morganton,  and  one  for  the  colored  at  or  near  Goldsboro. 
The  first  is  near  the  city  of  Raleigh,  occupying  a  building,  of  brick, 
three  stories  in  height,  and  upwards  of  700  feet  in  length,  and  with 
capacity  to  accommodate,  at  the  time  of  its  construction,  all  the  insane 
patients  that  might  be  presented  for  admission.  L)r.  William  R.  Wood 
is  the  present  Superintendent,  and  the  number  of  patients  at  the  date 
of  the  last  report  was  290 — 142  males,  154  females. 

Thi-:  Western  Hospital.— The  increasing  number  of  applications 
for  the  admission  of  insane  patients  compelled  legislative  action  to 
provide  other  and  ampler  provision  for  them,  and  the  institution  at 
Morganton  was  built,  a  structure  of  upwards  of  900  feet  in  length,  and 
with  every  convenience  of  ample  grounds,  water,  and  whatever  was 
necessary  as  curative  or  ameliorative  adjuncts  to  the  relief  of  mental 
disease.  The  institution  is  under  the  super intendency  of  Dr.  P.  L. 
Murphy.  At  the  last  report  the  number  of  patients  was  4dO — 233 
males  and  257  females. 


PUBLIC    INSTITUTIONS.  61 

Eastern  Insane  Asylum. — Upon  the  addition  of  the  colored  race 
to  the  ranks  of  citizenship,  their  claims,  their  rights  and  their  necessities 
required  provision  for  the  treatment  of  their  insane;  and  a  large  and 
commodious  brick  structure  was  erected  near  the  town  of  Goldsboro,  a 
place  most  accessible  to  the  centre  of  colored  population.  The  insti- 
tution is  conducted  on  precisely  the  same  principles,  controlled  by  the 
same  rules,  and  furnished  with  the  same  conveniences  as  are  provided 
for  the  institutions  for  the  whites.  Dr.  J.  F.  Miller  is  Superintendent. 
At  the  last  report  the  number  remaining  in  the  institution  was  231 — 
males  98,  females  133. 

DEAF,  DUMB  AND  BLIND  IWSTITUTION.— The  original  institution  was  estab- 
lished in  Raleigh  in  1846,  and  now  occupies  the  whole  of  one  of  the 
squares  reserved  by  the  State  for  its  own  uses  in  the  plan  for  the  laying 
out  of  the  city  of  Raleigh,  The  whole  is  now  covered  with  suitable 
buildings,  or  laid  out  in  grounds  with  hard  shaded  walks.  The  instruc- 
tion is  such  as  is  suited  to  make  useful  and  self-supporting  citizens  out 
of  those  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  denied  the  senses  of  sight,  speech  and 
hearing,  and  the  results  have  been  highly  satisfactory. 

The  Colored  Department,  under  the  same  general  supervision,  occu- 
pies suitable  buildings  and  grounds  in  a  different  part  of  the  City  of 
Raleigh,  in  no  wise  inferior,  except  in  extent,  to  those  provided  for  the 
whites. 

The  last  biennial  report — to  Nov.  30,  1890 — gives  the  following  as 
the  number,  sex,  color,  and  infirmity  of  the  pupils:  Deaf  mutes,  males, 
82;  females,  82.  Blind,  males,  71;  females,  58;  a  total  of  293.  Of 
these  there  were  colored  deaf  mute  males  26,  females  27.  Blind  males 
17,  females  18.     Mr.  W.  J.  Young  is  Superintendent. 

All  of  these  charitable  institutions  are  liberally  supported  by  bien- 
nial appropriations  from  the  State  Treasury,  and  pupils  or  patients  are 
taught  or  treated  without  charge. 

The  increasing  number  of  applications  to  the  blind  department  in 
the  Asylum  at  Raleigh,  in  connection  with  the  also  increasing  number 
of  deaf  and  dumb,  enforced  the  necessity  of  ampler  provision  for  the 
latter;  and  the  Legislature,  in  its  session  of  1891,  provided  for  the  erec- 
tion of  an  additional  institution  at  Morganton,  which  is  not  yet  com- 
plete. 

THE  PENITENTIARY.— Under  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of  North 
Carolina,  adopted  by  the  Convention  of  1868,  provision  was  made  for  the 
erection  of  suitable  buildings  for  the  confinement,  detention  and  employ- 
ment of  such  violators  of  the  law  as  had  subjected  themselves  to  the 
penalties  of  a  lengthened  period  of  imprisonment.     These  buildings 


62  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CARODINA. 

were  ultimately  located  in  Raleigh,  and  are  at  length  so  far  completed 
as  tp  be  fully  applicable  to  their  designed  purposes.  Architecturally 
they  are  large  and  imposing  in  style,  with  every  safeguard  for  the 
security  of  prisoners — every  provision  for  health  and  proper  comfort, 
and  every  facility  for  useful  employment.  The  policy,  originally 
designed,  to  confine  all  the  prisoners  within  the  walls  of  the  institution 
at  work,  or  in  idleness,  was  promptly  abandoned  in  the  change  of  parties 
in  1870;  and  since  that  period  only  those  confined  for  life,  or  for  des- 
perate crimes,  or  those  under  infirmity,  are  rigorously  confined  within 
the  premises,  together  with  such  as  might  be  usefully  and  profitably 
assigned  to  needed  mechanical  work,  under  the  eye  of  the  Superintend- 
ent. The  others,  the  able-bodied  and  the  shorter  term  convicts,  were 
applied  to  such  outside  work  as  would  return  some  revenue  to  the  insti- 
tution, or  diminish  the  costs  of  such  work  as  the  State  was  executing 
in  its  sovereign  capacity.  Thus  in  the  latter,  the  Governor's  Mansion, 
the  Supreme  Court  building,  and  others  have  been  constructed,  bricks 
made,  stones  dressed,  etc.;  and  in  the  larger  field  of  outside  work,  exten- 
sive railroad  lines  have  been  built,  canals  dug,  swamps  drained,  in  all 
of  which  compensation,  not  always  reaching  full  reimbursement  to  the 
State,  has  been  made.  The  policy  of  making  the  Penitentiary  self-sus- 
taining by  undertaking  work  heretofore  done  at  small  charge  on  the 
legitimate  basis  of  a  hired  labor  system,  and  the  leasing  and  working 
of  large  farms  by  a  force  familiar  to  the  work,  and  the  crops  under 
culture  has  proved  successful,  and  now,  instead  of  being  a  charge  upon 
the  State,  the  Penitentiary  is  becoming  a  source  of  revenue. 

The  system  is  as  humane  as  is  consistent  with  the  idea  of  punish- 
ment of  crime,  but  guarded  against  needless  rigor  or  wanton  cruelty  by 
the  periodical  visits  of  commissioners  appointed  b}-  the  State. 

The  number  of  convicts  at  the  last  report  made  to  the  Legislature  of 
1891,  was  1,302,  of  which  217  were  white  males,  and  7  white  females; 
and  1,034  colored  males,  and  42  colored  females,  and  2  Indian  males. 

Paul  F.  Faison  is  President  of  Board  of  Directors,  and  W.  J.  Ilieks 
Architect  and  Warden. 

THE  AGRICULTURAL  DEPARTMENT. — Nothing  so  clearly  indicated  the 
determined  and  intelligent  purpose  of  the  leading  minds  of  North 
Carolina  to  elevate  its  great  and  chiefest  interest  to  its  rightful  dignity 
and  prominence,  and  to  prove  also  its  claim  to  consideration,  to  respect, 
as  an  avocation  employing  brain  as  well  as  muscle,  as  when  the  Legis- 
lature met  promptly  and  unreservedly  the  demands  of  the  intelligent 
agricultural  interest  and  established  the  Agricultural  Department;  and 
in  doing  so  there  was  no  half-way  movement.     The  equipment  of  suit- 


PUBLIC    INSTITUTIONS.  63 

able  and  handsome  and  conveniently  arranged  buildings  was  ample; 
the  appropriations  for  the  maintenance  of  the  various  brandies  of  the 
department  liberal,  and  the  powers  given  for  the  enforcenicnt  of  the 
legislation  which  declared  the  purpose  and  defined  its  duties  abundant. 
Therefore  the  Agricultural  Department  came  into  existence  with  the 
enthusiastic  sanction  of  popular  sentiment  and  under  the  shield  and 
protection  of  the  public  law,  and  stands  not  onl}^  a  monument  to 
the  enlightened  spirit  of  the  age,  but  a  beacon  light  of  hope  and 
encouragement  to  that  great  fundamental  interest  which,  more  than  all 
others,  has  been  the  victim  of  neglect,  tlie  least  consideration  of  states- 
manship. 

It  must  be  stated,  brief!}',  that  the  Department  occupies  a  building 
in  the  city  of  Raleigh,  originally  large  and  convenient,  but  now 
arranged  so  as  to  be  specially  adapted  to  its  many  uses;  and  that  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  work  assigned  to  it  it  has  done— and  this  will  suffice 
to  illustrate  its  usefulness — what  is  expressed  in  the  words  of  another: 
"  It  has  saved  to  the  State  thousands  of  dollars  annually ;  it  has  induced 
investments  of  large  amounts  in  the  mines,  forests  and  agricultural 
lands  of  the  State,  and  has  developed  the  phosphate  beds,  the  oyster 
grounds,  and  the  mineral  deposits  and  coal  fields  of  the  State ;  it  has 
gathered  statistics  and  published  valuable  books  descriptive  of  the 
whole  State,  and  distributed  them  so  wisely  that  this  is  among  the  best 
advertised  States ;  and  has,  as  its  last  and  greatest,  effort,  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  successful  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts."  In 
its  relation  to  the  former  it  has  been,  and  continues  to  be,  of  inestimable 
value  to  the  farmer.  For  as  in  the  advancement  of  agriculture  into 
the  ranks  of  a  science,  so  was  there  enormous  application  of  the  pre- 
sumably scientifically  compounded  artificial  fertilizers.  Here  was 
opened  a  wide  and  gaping  door  to  fraud,  which  the  Department  was 
empowered  to  step  forward  and  close.  This  has  been  done  so  vigor- 
ously, watchfully  and  effectively  that  fraudulent  fertilizers  are  banished 
from  the  market,  trustworthy  brands  have  replaced  them,  and  at  the 
same  time  a  great  reduction  in  the  cost  has  been  made. 

Mr.  John  Robinson  is  Commissioner  of  the  Department,  and  Mr,  T. 
K.  Bruner  is  the  Secretary  and  Auditor. 

By  recent  Act  of  Assembly,  Mr.  Robinson  is  also  charged  with  the 
duties  of  Commissioner  of  Immigration,  and  to  him  all  inquiries  should 
be  addressed  on  matters  pertaining  to  immigration,  and  for  information 
of  the  locality,  nature  and  value  of  lands,  or  upon  any  subject  inviting 
to  investment  in  the  pursuits  and  industries  of  this  State. 


64  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE  AND  MECHANIC  ARTS,  RALEIGH. 

The  mission  of  the  North  Carolina  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic 
Arts  and  its  general  purpose  is  to  teach  the  principles  and  application 
of  the  sciences,  illustrating  sound  theory  by  dail}^  practice,  as  to  make 
out  of  its  students  useful  and  successful  men,  instead  of  mere  intelligent 
drones. 

One  of  the  special  objects  of  the  College  is  to  foster  a  higher  appre- 
ciation of  the  value  and  dignity  of  intelligent  labor  and  the  worth  and 
respectability  of  laboring  men. 

Some  of  the  very  best  thinkers  of  our  own  time  in  this  and  other 
countries  have  acknowledged  the  advantage  of  manual  training  of 
boys  and  young  men  in  well  equipped  schools,  and  institutions  of  this 
kind  are  now  being  recognized  as  among  the  practical  necessities  of 
every  Co  ra  m  on  weal  th . 

In  all  branches  of  industry  the  competition  of  the  w'orld  is  bringing 
about  a  closer  margin  of  profits,  and  demand  is  made  upon  men  of 
every  calling  to  study  the  best  methods  and  closer  economy  in  first 
production.  The  whole  trend  of  such  institutions  is  calculated  to  work 
out  such  economic  results. 

The  College  is  intended,  not  to  produce  theorists,  but  practical  young 
men,  who  will  become  intelligent  farmers,  horticulturists,  cattle  and 
stock  raisers,  dairymen — men  who  will  be  interested  in  making  their 
work  profitable. 

The  State  also  has  need  of  good  mechanics,  carpenters,  architects, 
draughtsmen,  contractors  and  manufacturers,  and  the  College  will  help 
to  make  them. 

While  the  College  will  give  practical  instruction  to  as  many  of  our 
youth  as  it  can  accommodate,  it  is  made  the  duty,  as  it  will  be  the 
pleasure,  of  the  members  of  the  Faculty  of  tlie  College  to  take  an  active 
part  in  Farmers'  Institutes,  which  are  accomplishing  so  much  of  good  in 
many  States  of  the  Union,  and  which  have  happily  been  inaugurated 
by  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and  by  the  farmers  themselves  in  our  State. 

The  Professors  will  be  at  the  service  of  the  farmers  of  the  State  when- 
ever they  can  impart  such  special  information  as  ma}^  be  sought  at  their 
hands.  They  will  be  glad  to  furnish  the  best  methods  of  building  and 
filling  silos,  of  planning  barns,  stables,  &c.  They  will  also  be  expected 
to  investigate  and  furnish  thoroughly  approved  formulas  for  remedies 
in  diseases  of  cattle,  for  destruction  of  insect  pests,  formulas  for  com- 
posting, ifec. 

Location. — Tiie  College  site  and  farm,  in  all  comprises  a  tract  of 
about  sixty-two  acres. 


PUBLIC    INSTITUTIONS.  65 

Situate  on  a  commanding  eminence,  on  the  Hillsboro  road,  one  of 
the  principal  highways  into  Raleigh,  at  the  distance  of  three-fourths  of 
a  mile  from  its  corporate  limits,  the  site  is,  in  all  respects,  a  suitable 
one.  The  ground  slopes  from  the  building  in  every  direction,  giving 
almost  perfect  drainage,  as  well  as  handsome  views  of  the  College  build- 
ings from  every  direction. 

Buildings. — The  present  buildings  are  of  North  Carolina  brick.  The 
granite  used  is  from  Wake  County,  the  brownstone  from  Anson  County. 

The  main  building  is  170  by  90  feet,  part  one  story  and  basement. 

Every  precaution  has  been  taken  for  good  sanitary  arrangement. 
The  class-rooms  and  dormitories  are  large  and  well-lighted,  and  the 
remaining  rooms,  such  as  dining-rooms,  chapel,  reading-rooms,  &c.,  are 
well  arranged. 

A  carefully  planned  brick  workshop,  two  stories  high.  This  building 
contains  a  machine-shop,  forge-shop,  woodwork  shop,  carpenter  shop, 
class-room,  office,  and  washroom,  and  is  equipped  for  thorough  work  in 
every  particular. 

It  is  intended  to  erect,  as  rapidly  as  means  will  permit,  barns,  silos, 
stables  and  the  like,  which  shall  be  models  of  their  kind.  Meanwhile, 
for  all  purposes  of  instruction,  are  already  erected  on  the  Experiment  Sta- 
tion Farm  large  buildings  for  such  purposes,  that  the  students  will  have 
the  use  of,  near  by  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College. 

In  the  basement  of  the  main  College  building  every  convenience  has 
been  provided  for  housekeeping,  and  no  facility  is  lacking  in  the  board- 
ing department. 

Mr.  Alexander  Q.  Holladay  is  at  present  President  of  the  institution. 

NORTH  CAROLINA  AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION,  ALSO  THE  FER- 
TILIZER CONTROL  STATION  AND  STATE  WEATHER  SERVICE,  ORGANIZED  1877, 
RALEIGH,  N.  C,  is  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  and  as  now  constituted  is  apart 
of  the  College.     The  officers  of  the  Station  are : 

H.  B.  Battle,  Ph.  D Director  and  State  Chemist. 

F.  E.  Emery,  B.  S Agriculturist. 

Gerald  McCarthy,  B.  Sc Botanist  and  Acting  Entomologist. 

W.  F.  Massey,  C.  E ...Horticulturist. 

C.  F.  VON  Herrmann  (U.  S.  "Weather  Bureau)... Meteorologist. 

B.  W.  Kilgore,  B.  S .Assistant  Chemist. 

F.  B.  Carpenter,  B.  S Assistant  Chemist. 

T.  L.  Blalock,  B.  S Assistant  Chemist. 

J.  S.  Meng,  B.  S Assistant  Chemist. 

Alexander  Rhodes Assistant  Horticulturist. 

RoscoE  Nunn  (U.  S.  "Weather  Bureau) Assistant  Meteorologist. 

J.  L.  CUNINGGIM,  A.  B Secretary. 

5 


66 


HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


PUBLIC   INSTITUTIONS.  67 

The  functions  of  the  Station  are  two-fold  :  First,  as  a  Fertilizer  Con- 
trol Station ;  second,  as  an  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  word. 

North  Carolina  has  always  shown  herself  to  be  a  pioneer  in  new 
works,  and  is  always  in  the  first  rank  in  the  establishment  of  new 
institutions  for  the  advancement  of  her  interests.  She  established  the 
first  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  in  the  Southern  States,  and  the 
second  in  the  broad  expanse  of  America.  The  Station  which  thus  came 
into  existence  in  1877  was  a  portion  of  the  North  Carolina  Department 
of  Agriculture.  Its  first  work  was  in  the  control  of  the  fertilizer  trade 
by  a  chemical  analysis  of  the  fertilizing  ingredients  offered  for  sale  in 
the  State,  thus  preventing  fraud  and  forcing  manufacturers  to  furnish 
the  materials  they  claim  to  sell.  It  continues  to  occupy  this  position 
for  the  protection  of  all  classes  of  farmers  and  other  buyers,  and  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  in  the  fourteen  years  of  its  existence  it  has  saved  the 
farmers  of  the  State  many  millions  of  dollars  by  preventino-  the  sale  of 
adulterated  and  worthless  fertilizers.  In  the  early  years  of  its  life  the 
chemical  investigation  was  its  main  work.  Besides  analyzing  fertilizers 
it  also  examined,  free  of  charge,  hundreds  of  samples  of  marls,  mucks, 
soils,  cotton  seed  products,  tobacco  products,  phosphates,  waters,  home- 
made composts  and  miscellaneous  fertilizing  ingredients,  chemicals,  etc. 
It  printed  and  spread  broadcast  hundreds  of  thousands  of  its  publica- 
tions, giving  information  on  almost  every  subject  connected  with  agri- 
culture, among  which  especially  were  formulas  for  composts  and  home- 
made fertilizers  and  the  utilization  of  waste  products.  It  thorouo-hlv 
examined  the  natural  phosphate  deposits  of  the  State,  the  pyrite 
deposits,  the  bye  products  of  the  rice  industry,  the  cotton  and  tobacco 
products,  the  possibility  of  the  jute  industr}^  for  North  Carolina,  the 
sorghum  and  sugar  beet  industry,  the  investigation  of  horn,  leather 
and  wool  waste,  of  phosphate  floats,  of  soja  bean,  and  various  forao-e 
plants,  and  others  just  as  important. 

Later  on  an  Experimental  Farm  was  added  to  the  agencies  at  work 
at  the  Experiment  Station.  Then  a  State  Weather  Service  was  organ- 
ized by  the  Station,  and  the  various  benefits  resulting  from  it,  such  as 
the  foreknowledge  of  frosts  and  cold  waves,  and  weather  indications, 
were  gained  to  the  State. 

During  this  time  the  Experiment  Station  was  supported  by  the  State 
from  funds  derived  from  the  fertilizer  tax.  In  1887,  however,  the 
United  States  Congress  passed  the  Hatch  Act,  which  appropriated 
money  from  the  General  Government  for  the  support  of  Experiment 
Stations  in  every  State  and  Territory.     It  should  be  gratifying  to  all  to 


68 


HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


know  that  the  Station  (except  amount  required  for  the  fertilizer  control) 
is  steadily  working  for  the  benefit  of  the  agriculture  of  the  State  with- 
out the  expenditure  of  a  single  cent  of  the  State's  resources,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  for  its  support.  With  the  coming  of  the  govern- 
ment faiids  the  scope  of  the  work  was  greatly  enlarged.  There  are 
now  in  operation  in  the  Station  the  divisions  of  Chemistry,  Agriculture, 


STABLES  AND   DAIRY    BUILDINGS— Fig.  1. 

Botany,  Entomology,  Horticulture,  Meteorology,  and  on  its  staff  are 
both  scientific  and  practical  men,  trained  experts  who  have  had  ample 
experience  both  in  the  science  and  practice  of  agriculture. 

The  various  divisions  at  present  belonging  to  the  Station,  and  some 
of  the  work  which  is  being  done  in  them,  are  as  follows: 

1.  Chemical  Z>>a'mon— including  all  chemical  work  of  the  Station  — 
the  fertilizer  control,  the  analyses  of  milk,  butter,  food  and  fodders, 
marls,  phosphates,  mucks,  soils,  chemicals,  waters,  etc.,  too  numerous 
to  mention. 


^i^lES  and  dairy  BUILDINGS— Fig    2. 


2.  Agricultural  Division.— Embraces  work  done  in  the  field,  stable, 
and  dairy— in  testing  the  various  fertilizing  ingredients  on  different 


PUBLIC    INSTITUTIONS.  69 

crops;  the  varieties  of  wheat,  oats,  cotton  and  corn,  grasses,  clovers  and 
other  forage  plants.  By  actual  feeding  tests  to  ascertain  the  value  of 
fodders  and  grass,  ensilage,  cotton-seed  products  for  fattening  purposes, 
the  digestibility  of  different  food  stuffs,  and  profitable  feeding.  In  the 
dairy  work  various  implements  are  tested,  improved  methods  tried,  and 
in  general  to  extend  the  dairy  industiy  throughout  the  State,  recog- 
nizing that  the  judicial  keeping  of  stock  is  the  salvation  of  our  people. 

3.  Cooperative  Experiments.— To  reach  as  many  soils  as  possible,  and 
to  disseminate  knowledge  of  the  work,  cooperative  field  tests  have  been 
instituted  in  various  localities  in  the  State.  Here  are  tested,  on  the 
various  soils  represented,  the  various  fertilizing  ingredients  on  different 
crops,  different  varieties  of  field  and  garden  crops,  fruits,  grapes,  and 
in  general, in  conjunction  with  the  Central  Station  at  Raleigh,  to  conduct 
M'ork  which  may  be  helpful  to  those  localities. 

4.  Botanical  Division. — Tests  the  purity  and  vitality  of  field  and 
garden  seeds,  grasses  and  clover,  identifies  plants  and  ascertains  their 
value,  examines  diseases  of  plants  and  investigates  the  best  remedies; 
disseminates  practical  information  on  the  best  agricultural  grasses  and 
their  culture,  on  the  most  troublesome  weeds  and  how  to  eradicate  them. 

5.  Entomological  Division. — Studies  the  various  insect  pests  which 
infest  the  field,  orchard  and  garden  crops,  and  suggests  remedies  and 
methods  of  extermination. 

G.  Horticaltural  Division  — Investigates  the  different  varieties  of  fruits 
and  vegetables,  and  their  adaptability  to  our  soils  and  climates,  also  the 
methods  for  cultivation,  gathering  and  shipment  to  markets;  originates 
and  improves  new  and  promising  varieties  wdiich  may  become  valuable 
to  the  State. 

7.  Meteorological  Division. — Embraces  the  State  Weather  Service,  oper- 
ating in  conjunction  with  the  Weather  Bureau  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture.  Collects  meteorological  data  from  over 
the  State,  and  preserves  it  for  permanent  record.  Telegrams  giving 
forecasts  of  weather  for  the  following  day  are  distributed;  also  cold 
wave  and  frost  warnings  for  the  protection  of  fruit,  tobacco  and  truck- 
ing interests.  A  weekly  bulletin,  showing  the  effect  of  the  weather  on 
the  crops,  is  issued  during  the  growing  season. 

8.  Bureau  of  Information. — Correspondence  is  invited  on  all  subjects 
connected  with  agriculture,  both  scientifically  and  practically.  The 
staff  of  the  Station  is  at  all  times  ready  to  reply  promptly,  and  give 
the  proper  information  wherever  possible. 

9.  Division  of  Pablications. — The  Experiment  Station  issues  numerous 
publications,  including  bulletins  and  annual  reports,  which  are  sent 
free  to  all  who  request  them.     The  matter  printed  in  them  is  presented 


70  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

in  as  plain  and  practical  a  style  as  possible,  avoiding  technicalities  and 
unnecessary  words.  The  bulletins  are  issued  only  when  the  material 
on  hand  justifies  it — averring  once  in  about  five  or  six  weeks.  Over 
13,000  farmers  and  others  now  receive  them.  The  following  are  some 
of  the  subjects  treated,  and  occupying,  each  issue,  from  8  to  96  pages: 
Compost  formulas,  seed  tests,  stock  feeding  on  scientific  principles, 
cooperative  field  tests,  Indian  corn,  farm  and  dairy  buildings,  weed 
pests  of  the  farm  (illustrated),  coiton-seed  meal  and  hulls  as  a  stock 
feed,  hill-side  ditching,  some  injurious  insects,  value  of  pea-vine 
manuring  for  wheat,  facts  for  farmers,  onion  and  celery  culture,  late 
crops  of  Irish  potatoes  in  the  South,  tobacco  curing  b}^  the  leaf  cure  on 
wire  and  the  stalk  processes,  &c. 

The  chemical  laboratories  and  the  city  offices  of  the  Station  occupy 
the  entire  first  floor  of  the  right  wing  of  the  Agricultural  Building, 
Raleigh.  In  this  building  also  are  located  the  botanical  and  entomo- 
logical laboratory,  and  the  rooms  of  the  meteorological  division  con- 
stituting the  Weather  Service.  Upon  the  roof  are  the  meteorological 
instruments  for  recording  velocity  of  wind,  temperatures,  direction  of 
wind,  &c.,  as  well  as  signal  flags  to  disseminate  the  weather  forecasts. 
The  Experimental  Farm,  on  which  are  the  Experimental  barn,  stable, 
dairy-house,  plant-house  (see  illustration),  is  located  adjoining  the  State 
Fair  Grounds  and  in  close  proximity  to  the  grounds  of  the  Agricul- 
tural College. 

ORPHANAGES 

May  be  regarded  as  public  institutions,  in  connection  with  those  devoted 
to  charity  previously  considered;  for  two  of  them,  at  least,  are  aided 
by  appropriations  from  the  State  Treasury,  and  the  omission  of  the 
others  devoted  to  the  same  generous  purpose,  while  perhaps  technically 
right,  would  not  be  morally  just;  because  the  relief  of  the  orphan 
and  his  equipment  for  future  usefulness  and  respectability  is  as  much 
the  expression  of  the  sentiment  of  the  people  through  the  church  as 
through  legislation,  and  in  that  view  all  the  Orphanages  become  public 
institutions. 

THE  OXFORD  ORPHAN  ASYLUM  is  the  first  of  tiiese  established  in  the 
State,  and  was  organized  and  equipped  at  Oxford,  (iranville  County, 
but  not  originally  in  its  present  effective  and  useful  character.  The 
Orphanage  is  the  siccessor  of  St.  John's  College,  established  by  the 
Masonic  Fraternity  of  North  Carolina  before  the  war,  and  in  its  man- 
agement and  career  the  subject  of  two  financial  disasters;  to  avoid  the 
recurrence  of  which,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  John  H.  Mills,  the  College 


ORPHANAGES.  71 

was  converted  into  an  Orphanage.  At  that  time  the  poverty  of  the 
country  was  extreme,  and,  as  one  of  the  results  of  the  war,  the  number 
of  orphans  very  great.  The  change  of  character  of  the  institution 
assured  its  inmates  food,  raiment  and  lodging,  instruction  and  training 
and  equipment,  mentally  and  physically,  for  future  self-support.  The 
institution  was  largely  kept  alive  by  appeals  to  public  aid  and  gen- 
erosity, until  its  importance  and  the  obligation  resting  upon  the  State 
for  the  public  charge  and  care  of  such  an  ever-present  body  of  helpless 
unfortunates  so  impressed  itself  upon  the  intelligence  and  conscience 
of  the  people  as  to  make  the  demand  upon  the  Legislature  for  material 
aid  irresistible.  The  State  now  appropriates  annually  from  the  Treasury 
$10,000,  but  the  management  is  retained  in  the  hands  of  the  Masons. 

The  Orphanage  occupies  the  buildings  and  capacious  grounds  of  St. 
John's  College;  and  farm  work,  mechanical  trades,  printing,  &c., 
together  with  the  plainer  branches  of  learning,  are  taught  the  boys, 
and  also  the  girb,  to  whose  course  of  instruction  is  added  needle- 
work, housekeeping  and  domestic  duties;  and  thus  every  year  a  largo 
number  of  both  sexes  are  sent  forth  to  earn  their  own  living,  fortified 
with  good  characters  and  efficient  training. 

THE  THOMASVILLE  ORPHANAGE  is  near  Thomasville,  Davidson  County, 
and  is  under  the  patronage  of  the  denomination  of  Baptists.  It  is 
under  the  immediate  supervision  of  Mr.  John  H.  Mills,  the  founder  of 
the  preceding.  The  Orphanage  occupies  a  number  of  well-built 
detached  buildings,  separated  as  a  safeguard  against  general  conflagra- 
tion, and  for  the  security  of  health.  Grounds  of  one  hundred  acres  or 
more  surround  the  buildings,  and  are  cultivated  by  the  male  pupils  to 
the  extent  of  materially  aiding  in  the  maintenance  of  the  Orphanage. 

THE  THOMPSON  ORPHANAGE,  at  Charlotte,  is  maintained  by  the  Epis- 
copalians, occupies  ample  grounds,  and  is  equipped  with  all  necessary 
buildings.  It  is  supported  by  private  contributions  or  collections  in 
the  churches,  and  its  general  objects  are  the  same  in  relation  to  the 
orphans  as  rule  in  the  Oxford  Asylum. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  ORPHANAGE,  at  the  Barium  Springs,  in  Iredell 
County,  that  the  denomination  of  Presbyterians  might  care  for  its  own 
helpless.  Unfortunately^  the  buildings  were  not  long  since  burned, 
and  have  not  yet  been  replaced,  though  preparations  for  doing  so  are 
in  progress. 

THE  ODD  FELLOWS  ORPHANAGE  is  located  at  Goldsboro,  and  was  opened 
on  the  10th  of  May,  18U2.  As  its  name  implies,  it  is  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Odd  Fellows  of  North  Carolina,  and  is  designed  for  the  care  and 
education  of  children  of  deceased  members  of  the  Order.     Children  of 


72  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

both  sexes  are  received.  Thus  far  the  children  are  instructed  only  in 
the  plainer  branches  of  education,  but  will  be  in  time  subjected  to  a 
system  of  industrial  as  well  as  intellectual  training  to  qualify  them  for 
the  duties  of  after  life. 

The  buildings  of  the  institution  are  good  and  substantial,  and  twenty 
acres  of  ground  are  included  in  the  property.  The  citizens  of  Golds- 
boro  contributed  liberally  to  the  establishment  of  the  Orphanage, 
which  is  maintained  by  an  annual  appropriation  from  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  $3,500,  and  also  by  appropriations  from  other  Lodges  of  the  State 
a'nd  from  individuals. 

The  Orphanage  is  under  the  management  of  Dr.  W.  C.  Whitfield,  of 
Wayne  County. 

THE  COLORED  BAPTIST  ASYLUM  was  established  at  Oxford  by  the  colored 
Baptist  denomination  of  the  State,  though  pupils  from  other  denomi- 
nations are  received  and  cared  for  on  equal  terms.  The  objects  and 
systems  are  similar  to  this  in  the  other  Orphanages. 

This  institution  has  an  annual  appropriation  from  the  State  Treasury 
in  aid  of  its  private  resources. 

BUREAU   OF  LABOR    STATISTICS. 

As  a  })art  of  the  machinery  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  Immi- 
gration and  Statistics,  at  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1887 
was  established  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  under  the  supervision 
of  a  Commissioner,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  who  holds  his 
office  for  two  years  at  an  annual  salary  of  -^1,500.  His  duties  are  defined 
by  the  Act,  as  follows: 

He  shall  collect  information  jupon  the  subject  of  labor,  its  relation  to  capital,  the 
hours  of  labor,  the  earnings  of  laboring  men  and  women,  their  educational,  moral 
and  financial  condition  and  tlie  best  means  of  promoting  their  mental,  matt>rial,  social 
and  moi-al  prosperity.  He  shall  also  make  a  full  report  to  each  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  information  collected  and  collated  by  him  and  containing  sucli  recom- 
mendations as  he  may  deem  calculated  to  promote  the  efficiency  of  the  bureau.  The 
Commissioner  is  herebj^  directed  to  endeavor  to  obtain  an  accurate  list  of  all  the  news- 
papers published  in  the  State,  and  whether  the  same  be  published  daily  or  weekly, 
and  to  forward  to  each  and  all  a  copy  of  his  report  promptly  upon  its  being  published; 
he  is  also  directed  to  diligently  enquire  after  the  labor  orgaTiizations  of  tlie  .State  and 
see  tiiat  none  are  omitte<l  in  the  distribution  of  tlie  reports;  he  is  further  directed  to 
confine  his  labors  to  this  State. 

The  Bureau  is  in  active  existence,  discharging  its  functions  indus- 
triously and  usefully.  Mr.  John  C.  Scarborough  is  Commissioner,  and 
Mr.  W.  S.  Harris  Chief  Clerk. 


RAILROAD   COMMISSION.  73 

THE  GEOLOGICAL  MUSEUM, 

In  the  building  of  the  Agricultural  Department,  presents  an  admira- 
ble epitome  of  the  resources,  the  progress  and  the  characteristics  of  North 
Carolina,  collected  and  displayed  so  as  to  gratify  the  pride  of  the  people 
and  stimulate  to  further  effort,  and  also  full}^  to  inform  the  inquiring 
visitor  from  other  States  and  countries.  Everything  that  is  the  prod- 
uct of  land  and  water  on  the  surface  and  under  the  surface,  the  precious 
metals  and  the  baser  metals,  the  gold,  the  iron,  the  copper,  the  coal,  the 
marl,  the  phosphates,  the  marbles,  the  building-stones,  together  with  the 
gems  which  sparkle  in  her  diadem  ;  and  the  woods,  ornamental  and 
useful,  and  the  grains,  and  all  else  that  illustrate  the  richness  of  the 
land;  and  the  fishes  and  the  great  whale  that  tell  of  the  wealth  of  the 
waters — all  these  eloquently  speak  to  the  North  Carolinian  the  great 
store  our  State  has  laid  up  for  him  who  has  the  patience  and  the  intel- 
ligence to  dig  it  out  from  its  hidden  depositories. 

Mr.  T.  C.  Harris  is  the  Curator  of  the  Museum. 

RAILROAD   COMMISSION. 

By  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  ratified  March 
5,  1891,  a  Railroad  Commission  was  created,  consisting  of  three  mem- 
bers, to  be  elected  by  the  Legislature,  charged  with  the  general  super- 
vision of  railroads,  steamboat  and  canal  companies,  and  express  and 
telegraph  companies  doing  business  in  North  Carolina,  restraining  on 
the  part  of  railroad  and  other  public  transportation  companies  the 
exaction  of  more  than  a  reasonable  compensation  for  the  carriage  of 
freight  or  passengers,  under  penalty  of  line,  to  be  adjudged  sufficient 
under  conviction  for  extortion;  and  also  empowering  the  Commission 
with  authority  to  forbid  such  companies  to  give  undue  preference  to 
patrons  of  their  lines,  and  authorizing  it  to  make  rates  for  freight  and 
passenger  tariffs,  forbidding  unjust  disci iminations,  giving  rebates,  and 
the  charging  more  for  short  hauls;  empowering  it  to  make  special 
excursion  rates,  empowers  it  to  fix  the  charges  for  the  transportation  of 
passengers  and  freight,  to  make  schedules  that  shall  meet  the  general 
public  convenience,  and  take  such  other  steps  and  do  such  other  acts 
as  shall  conduce  to  the  protection  of  the  business  and  travelling  public 
from  oppression  and  injustice,  allegations  of  which  induced  the  creation 
of  the  Commission.  The  same  principles  that  govern  railroad  and 
other  transportation  management  are  made  to  apply  also  to  telegraph 
and  express  companies 

The  Commission  consists  at  present  of  J.  W.  Wilson,  chairman,  and 
T.  W.  Mason  and  E.  C.  Beddingfield,and  its  sittings  are  held  in  Raleigh 


HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


PUBLIC   BUILDINGS. 


The  necessity  for  such  suitable  places  at  the  State  Capital  for  the 
decent  and  convenient  conduct  of  the  public  business  was  so  apparent, 
that  in  the  course  of  the  existence  of  the  State  government,  with  Raleigh 
as  its  seat  and  centre,  all  the  public  buildings  required  have  been  con- 
structed, and  in  a  st3'le  suited  to  the  dignity  and  character  of  the  State. 

THE  STATE  CAPITOL,  begun  in  1832  to  replace  its  predecessor  destroyed 
by  fire  June  27,  1831,  was  completed  and  made  ready  for  occupation 
in  1840.  It  is  a  massive  granite  structure,  in  plain  but  impressive 
doric  style,  and  for  many  years  w«s  regarded  as  the  finest  of  all  the  State 
Capitols.  It  is  situated  in  a  square  of  four  acres,  laid  off  in  broad  and 
convenient  walks,  shaded  in  part  by  native  oaks,  survivors  of  the  original 
forests,  and  with  other  trees  illustrating  very  interestingly  the  variety 
and  character  of  North  Carolina  forestry;  and  it  is  also  adorned  with 
flowers  and  shrubbery.  The  building  contains  the  Legislative  Halls,  the 
Executive  offices,  the  Treasury  Department,  the  Auditor's  office,  those 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  rooms  of  the  Keeper  of  the  Capitol,  Legis- 
lative Committee  rooms,  and  other  needed  apartments,  is  lighted  both 
by  gas  and  electricity,  is  well  ventilated,  and  in  winter  is  thoroughly 
heated  throughout  by  steam.  The  whole  is  surrounded  by  a  handsome 
iron  fence,  based  upon  a  solid  dressed  granite  foundation. 

THE  GOVERNOR'S  MANSION,  recently  completed,  and  first  occupied  by 
his  Excellency  Daniel  G.  Fowle,  is  situated  in  the  north-eastern  part  of 
the  city  on  one  of  the  public  squares  originally  reserved  to  the  State  in 
the  plan  of  Raleigh.  It  is  a  three-story  brick  structure,  elegant  in 
design,  and  complete  in  all  its  details,  pleasing  in  exterior,  elegant, 
convenient  and  comfortable  in  the  interior.  In  its  construction  much 
of  the  beautiful  flesh-colored  marble  from  the  Nantahala  river  in  Macon 
County  was  used,  illustrating  the  value  and  beauty  of  that  superb 
material. 

THE  SUPREME  COURT  AND  STATE  LIBRARY  BUILDING  is  situated  on  the 
north  side  of  Edenton  street,  adjoining  the  Agricultural  Building  and 
fronting  Capitol  Square.  It  has  an  unpretending  exterior,  but  is 
well  built  and  well  arranged  for  its  various  uses.  It  is  three  stories 
high,  and  contains  the  Supreme  Court  room,  consulting  looms,  the 
Attorney  General's  oflice,  the  office  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  the  Supreme  Court  Library,  which  contains,  besides  a  large 
and  valuable  collection  of  law  volumes,  ])ortraits  of  many  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Court  from  its  organizition  to  the  present  time;  and  also 


EDUCATION.  75 

the  State  Library  of  45,000  volumes,  and  portraits  of  eminent  North 
Carolinians  prominent  in  State  annals,  in  professional,  civil  and  mili- 
tary and  naval  life.  To  these  buildings  are  to  be  added  those  of  the 
charitable  and  penal  institutions  before  mentioned,  all  of  which  are 
large,  imposing  and  costly  structures. 

EDUCATION. 

The  good  name,  as  well  as  the  substantial  prosperity  of  a  State,  is 
indissolubly  associated  with,  and  dependent  upon,  the  initial  direction 
given  to  the  minds  of  the  young.  Care  on  the  one  hand,  neglect  on 
the  other,  bring  forth  responsive  fruit,  to  tell  in  after  years  in  the  grate- 
ful form  of  public  virtue  and  enlightenment,  or  in  the  melancholy 
spectacle  of  public  vice  or  popular  ignorance  and  abasement.  The 
wisdom  of  statesmanship  is  never  so  wisely  directed  as  when  it  aims  to 
establish  the  one  and  guard  against  the  other.  And  such  statesman- 
ship knows  that  it  must  act  always  by  anticipation;  knows  that  it  is 
dealing  with  functions  in  a  state  of  constant  change  and  progression; 
that  it  is  moulding  and  shaping  that  which,  though  incorporeal  and 
intangible,  bears  direct  analogy  to  that  which  is  corporeal  and  material, 
in  that  it  is  impressible  to  good  or  to  evil,  retains  the  shape  and  form 
to  which  it  is  moulded,  and,  in  its  matured  powers,  presents  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  wise  directing  hand,  or  the  distortion  of  neglect  or  of  wicked 
design. 

The  solicitude  of  our  Revolutionary  fathers  was  never  allayed,  even 
amid  the  clash  of  arms  and  the  uncertainties  of  a  pending  desperate 
strife,  until  they  had  given  expression  in  their  tentative  efforts  in  the 
formation  of  a  new  government  to  the  purpose  which  was  uppermost 
in  their  minds.  Never  in  human  history  did  a  solemn  determination 
to  discharge  a  duty,  apparently  altogether  irrelevant  to  the  cause  they 
then  had  in  hand — the  conduct  of  war  and  the  achievement  of  liberty — 
have  expression  so  noble,  so  wise,  so  disinterested.  Liberty  might  be 
won,  but  at  ruinous  cost;  but  whatever  befell,  posterity  must  be  edu- 
cated. That  was  a  sacred  charge  not  to  be  neglected  or  evaded.  It  was 
the  education  of  the  leaders  in  the  cause  of  liberty  that  had  taught  the 
value  of  liberty;  it  was  essential  that  that  liberty  when  assured  should 
be  preserved  by  the  same  means  that  had  demonstrated  its  value. 
Therefore,  posterity  must  be  educated;  and  while  the  enemy  were  still 
thundering  at  the  gates,  and  while  the  roar  of  battle  was  still  deafen- 
ing the  startled  ear,  calmly,  unmoved  by  the  awful  commotion,  brave 
as  to  their  present,  confident  as  to  their  future,  they  decreed  in  their 


76  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

first  Constitution  "that  a  school  or  scho  ils  should  be  established  by  the 
Legislature  for  the  convenient  instruction  of  youth,  with  such  sala- 
ries to  the  masters,  paid  by  the  public,  as  may  enable  them  to  ius  ruct 
at  low  prices;  and  all  useful  learning  shuU  be  encouraged  in  one  or 
more  universities." 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  our  school  system;  such  was  the  manda- 
tory obligation  and  formation  of  the  S  ate  University. 

Public  financial  confusion,  general  piivate  pecuniary  distress,  mate- 
rially delayed  action  upon  the  wise  determination  of  the  founders  of 
our  State  government.  Yet,  under  all  untoward  circumstances,  the 
Uiiiversiiy  was  chartered  in  1786,  and  entered  upon  its  work  in  1795. 
It  lit  the  torch  of  public  education,  if  at  the  time  it  could  do  no  more. 
Its  own  career  grandly  illustrated  its  own  usefulness.  Its  example  and 
its  influence  kept  alive  that  broader  ultimate  plan  and  purpose  of  an 
education  to  be  brought  to  every  child  in  the  land.  The  first  step  was 
taken  by  Judge  Murphey  in  the  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1810,  in  a 
report  urging  the  establishment  of  a  judicious  system  of  public  educa- 
tion. But  no  further  legislative  action  on  the  subject  was  taken  until 
the  session  of  1825,  in  which  year  a  fund  for  the  establishment  of  com- 
mon schools  was  created  by  the  General  Assembl}^  "consisting  of  the 
dividends  arising  from  the  stocks  then  held  or  afterwards  acquired  by 
the  State  in  the  banks  of  New  Berne  and  Cape  Fear,  the  dividends 
arising  from  the  stocks  owned  by  the  State  in  the  Cape  Fear  Naviga- 
tion Company,  the  Roanoke  Navigation  Company,  and  the  Clubfoot 
and  Harlowe  Creek  Canal  Compan}-,  the  tax  imposed  by  law  on  license 
to  retailers  of  spirituous  liquors  and  auctioneers,  the  unexpended 
balance  of  the  agricultural  fund,  all  moneys  paid  to  the  Siate  for  the 
entries  of  vacant  land,  and  all  the  vacant  and  unappropriated  swamp 
lands  of  the  State,  together  with  such  sums  of  money  as  the  Slate  may 
find  it  convenient  to  appropriate  from  time  to  time." 

In  1781),  the  Legislature  in  session  in  Fayetteville,  by  anticipation, 
had  cut  off  by  far  the  largest  resources  applicable  to  the  school  fund. 
The  largest  body  of  vacant  land  then  owned  by  the  State  included  all 
the  territory  of  the  present  State  of  Tennessee.  But  as  a  heavy  debt 
rested  upon  the  National  Government  for  the  costs  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  Congress  liad  frequently  urged  upon  the  States  owning  western 
territor}'  the  policy  of  ceding  the  whole  or  part  of  such  territory  to  aid 
in  the  extinguishment  of  such  debt.  North  Carolina,  with  responsive 
generosity,  gave  up  the  territ'>ry  of  Terniessee,  with  all  her  prospective 
school  lands,  and  fell  back  upon  her  other  resources  and  the  relief  or 
aids  of  future  legislation. 


EDUCATION.  77 

Such  legislation  was  had,  and  by  the  transfer  to  the  Literary  Fund  b}^ 
the  General  Government  in  1837  of  the  State's  share  of  the  surplus 
deposit  fund,  this  increased  the  Literary  Fund  to  $2,000,000  and  upwards. 
The  common  school  system,  as  it  was  designated,  was  adopted  by  popu- 
lar vote  in  1839,  and  continued  in  force  until  superceded  by  the  results 
of  the  war.  Under  tliat  system,  in  1850  the  number  of  schools  was 
2,657;  of  teachers,  2,730;  of  pupils,  104,095.  The  income,  being  in 
that  year  $158,564,  increased  in  1860  to  $268,719. 

As  a  result  of  the  war,  the  whole  Literary  Fund  was  lost,  and  new 
provision  had  to  be  made. 

Without  going  into  details  involving  the  legislation  of  several  years, 
it  is  enough  here  to  say  that  in  1890,  from  the  general  poll-tax, 
general  property  tax  (12J  cents  on  the  $100),  special  poll-tax,  special 
property  tax,  special  property  tax  under  local  acts,  special  poll-tax 
under  local  acts,  fines,  forfeitures  and  penalties,  liquor  licenses,  auc- 
tioneers, estrays  and  other  sources,  all  of  which  are  specially  applied  to 
the  school  fund,  and  from  the  State  Board  of  Education,  there  was 
realized  the  sum  of  $721,756  38,  as  against  the  receipts  for  1884  of 
$580,311.06;  and  for  1890  the  expenditures  were  $718,225.60. 

The  school  census  for  1890  shows  the  number  of  persons  between  6 
and  21  years  of  age  to  have  been — white  males,  190,423;  white  females, 
179,721;  total,  370,144;  colored  males,  108,707;  colored  females,  107,817; 
total,  216,524;  of  which  there  was  an  enrollment  of — white  males, 
107,073;  white  females,  98,771 ;  total,  205,844 ;  and  of  colored  males, 
55,455;  colored  females,  61,234;  total,  116,689.  The  average  attend- 
ance during  the  same  time  was,  for  whites,  134,108;  for  colored,  68,992. 
Average  length  of  school  terms,  for  whites,  11.85;  colored,  11.81.  Aver- 
age salary  of  teachers — white  males,  $25.80;  white  females,  $22.95; 
colored  males,  $22.72;  colored  females,  $20  36. 

The  value  of  public  school  property  in  1890,  for  whites,  was  §612,- 
303.51 ;  for  colored,  $240,402.60.  The  number  of  public  school-houses 
in  the  same  year  was,  for  whites,  3,973  ;  for  colored,  1,820.  Number  of 
schools  taught  in  same  period,  for  whites,  4,508;  colored,- 2,327.  Num- 
ber of  school  districts,  for  whites,  4,893;  for  colored,  2,289.  And  the 
statistics  of  the  Normal  Schools  for  1890,  for  the  colored  race,  show  an 
attendance  at  Fayetteville  of  145,  at  Salisbury  of  119,  at  Franklinton 
of  275,  at  Plymouth  of  123,  and  at  Goldsboro  of  115 — an  increase  over 
the  previous  year  of  58. 

For  the  fiscal  year  ending  November  30, 1890,  there  had  been  levied 
for  school  purposes  on  white  polls  $229,994.32,  and  on  colored  polls 
$90,420.  On  general  property  there  had  been  levied  on  the  W'hites 
$283,953.31,  and  on  colored  $8,735.34. 


78  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  population  of  North  Carolina  by  the  census  of  1890  is — white, 
1,049,191;  colored,  567,170;  all  others,  1,586— a  total  of  1,617,947,  the 
colored  population  being  a  little  more  than  one-third  of  the  whole.  In 
the  contribution  to  the  support  of  the  schools,  the  whites  contribute 
nearly  five-sixths  of  the  whole,  and  the  colored  little  more  than  one- 
sixth.  Nevertheless,  the  appropriation  is  made  rigidly  jyro  rata,  as  if 
the  contribution  had  been  on  the  same  basis. 

Besides  the  levy,  which  is  now  15  cents  on  the  $100  worth  of  prop- 
erty, and  the  other  subjects  upon  which  taxation  is  laid  for  the  benefit 
of  the  public  schools,  the  State  has  received  large  benefactions  from  the 
Peabod  V  Fund,  appropriated  in  aid  of  public,  normal  and  graded  schools 
and  to  holders  of  scholarships  in  the  Nashville  Normal  School.  There 
are  fourteen  of  these  scholarships,  each  worth  $200  per  annum.  The 
average  annual  appropriations  to  the  State  from  this  fund  s  nee  1868 
have  been  about  §4,500. 

The  present  puVjlic  school  system  exists  under  that  feature  of  the 
State  Constitution  providing  for  a  State  Board  of  Education,  consisting 
of  the  Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  Treasurer,  Auditor,  Attorney  Gen- 
eral, and  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  The  latter  is  the  head 
of  the  system  of  public  schools.  Each  county  has  its  County  Board 
and  County  Superintendent.  The  County  Board  consists  of  those  men 
elected  by  the  Commissioners  and  Justices  of  the  county,  and  the  Board, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Commissioners  and  Magistrates,  elect  the  Super- 
intendent. The  normal  system  was  adopted  in  1885,  for  the  whites  as 
well  as  for  the  colored  people,  and  eight  normal  schools  were  established 
for  the  former  and  five  for  the  latter.  The  county  institute  system  has 
superceded  the  white  normal  school?,  except  that  a  normal  department 
is  provided  by  the  University.  The  five  colored  normal  schools  are 
still  continued. 

It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  while  the  provision  for  the  schools  of 
both  races  is  made  with  strictly  impartial  appropriation  of  the  public 
funds,  the  schools  themselves  are  separate;  and  a  still  further  separation 
is  made  in  the'schools  of  the  Croatan  Indians  of  Robeson  County,  which 
are  detached  from  both  the  white  and  colored  schools. 

HIGHER   EDUCATION. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. — Under  the  mandate  of  the  Con- 
stitution, requiring  the  establishment  of  common  schools,  and  also  of 
one  or  more  universities,  on  December  11, 1789,  the  Legislature  decreed 
the  existence  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  by  a  Board  of  Cor- 


HIGHER    EDUCATION.  79 

porators  selected  from  among  the  most  earnest  and  intelligent  friends 
of  education,  to  be  located  at  a  point  to  be  selected  from  among  those 
suggested  as  the  most  eligible  in  the  counties  of  Wake,  Franklin,  War- 
ren, Orange,  Granville,  Chatham  and  Johnston.  The  place  called  New 
Hope  Chapel  Hill,  in  the  county  of  Orange,  was  accepted — 1,180  acres 
of  suitable  territory  having  been  offered  by  the  citizens  of  that  vicinity : 
and  here  the  village  of  Chapel  Hill  was  laid  off,  the  first  lots  sold,  and 
the  corner-stone  of  the  old  East  building  was  laid  on  the  12th  day  of 
December,  1793,  and  the  institution  was  opened  in  1795. 

The  institution  has  now  approached  the  lofiy  elevation  originally 
designed — that  of  a  University — having  passed  be3^ond  the  confined 
limits  of  a  college  with  its  limited  curriculum.  It  now  gives  instruc- 
tion not  only  in  the  former  prescribed  course,  but  has  expanded  into 
the  addition  of  all  the  liberal  and  scientific  branches.  The  course  of 
study  embraces  political  and  social  science,  history,  English,  Greek, 
Latin,  modern  languages,  mental  and  moral  science,  mathematics, 
engineering,  chemistry,  natural  philosophy,  biology,  mineralog}^  and 
geology.  There  are  also  special  schools  for  law  and  medicine.  Five 
special  courses  of  study  leading  to  degrees  are  arranged  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  desire  thorough  general  education.  Special  short  courses 
may  be  adopted  in  connection  with  preparation  for  the  study  of  medi- 
cine, for  business,  agriculture,  teaching,  law  or  journalism.  Free 
instruction  is  given  in  all  departments  to  graduates  of  other  colleges 
and  universitie-!. 

The  Faculty  was  a  full  one  at  the  Commencement,  June,  1892,  con- 
sisting of  George  Taylor  Winston,  LL.  D.,  President  and  Professor  of 
Political  and  Social  Science;  Kemp  Plummer  Battle,  LL.  I).,  Professor 
of  History;  Francis  Preston  Amenable,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  General  and 
Analytical  Chemistry;  Joseph  Austin  Holmes,  B.  S.,  Professor  of  Geol- 
ogy and  Mineralogy ;  John  Manning,  LL.  I) ,  Professor  of  Law ;  Thomas 
Hume,  D.  D,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  English  Language  and  Literature; 
Walter  Dallam  Toy,  Professor  of  Modern  Languages;  Eben  Alexander, 
Professor  of  Greek  Language  and  Literature;  WTlliam  Cain,  C.  E.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Mathematics  and  Engineering;  Richard  Henry  Whitehead, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Physiology  and  Mateiia  Medica;  Henry 
Horace  Williams,  A.  M.,  B.  D.,  Professor  of  Mental  and  Moral  Science; 
Henry  Van  Peters  Wilson,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Biology ;  Karl  Pomeroy 
Harrison,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Latin  Language  and  Literature;  and  the 
following  instructors  and  assistants:  LIunter  Lee  Harris,  B.  S.,  instruc- 
tor in  Mineralogy  and  Geology;  Howard  Burton  Shaw,  A.  B.,  B.  E., 
instructor  in  Mathematics  and  Drawing;  Charles  Baskerville,  assistant 


80  HANl4§00K    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

in  Chemical  Laboratory;  Howard  A.  Banks,  A.  B.,  instructor  in  Eng- 
lish; Arthur  J.  Edwards,  assistant  in  Chemical  Laboratory;  Thomas 
R.  Foust,  assistant  in  Physical  Laboratory. 

The  University  is  sustained  by  an  annual  appropriation  by  the  State 
of  $20,000:  by  the  annual  charge,  $77.50  per  capita  for  tuition,  and  is 
aided  by  the  Deems  Fund,  which  is  designed  to  assist  needy  students 
by  loans;  by  the  Francis  Jones  Smith  Fund,  the  income  of  which  is 
applied  to  the  education  of  such  students  as  the  Faculty  may  desig- 
nate; by  the  B.  F.  Moore  scholarship,  by  the  Cameron  scholarship,  by 
the  xVhimni  scholarship,  and  by  the  Mary  Ann  Smith  scholarships. 

Free  tuition  is  also  offered  to  candidates  for  the  ministry,  to  the  sons 
of  ministers,  to  young  men  under  bodily  infirmity,  and  to  young  men 
preparing  to  teach. 

DENOMINATIONAL   COLLEGES. 

The  leading  denominations  of  North  Carolina,  in  their  desire  and 
purpose  to  give  special  advantages  to  their  young  men  preparing  to 
engage  in  the  ministry,  by  equipping  them  with  all  the  advantages  of 
education,  more  within  the  limits  of  denominational  lines  than  else- 
where attainable,  made  early  efforts  to  establish  colleges  under  their 
own  control.  Thus  Wake  Forest  College,  Davidson  College  and  Trinity 
College  came  successively  into  existence,  the  educational  representa- 
tions respectively  of  the  Baptist,  the  Presbyterian  and  the  Methodist 
denominations. 

WAKE  FOREST  COLLEGE  was  chartered  at  the  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  1833.  A  tract  of  land  containing  615  acres,  twelve  miles 
north  of  Raleigh,  at  the  point  now  known  as  Wake  Forest,  was  pur- 
chased, and  the  erection  of  buildings  begun,  and  the  institution  opened 
on  the  first  Monday  of  February,  1834. 

The  system  first  adopted,  which  was  that  of  manual  labor,  associated 
with  the  ordinary  college  curriculum,  was  soon  abandoned  as  imprac- 
ticable and  unproductive  of  satisfactory  results,  and  the  collegiate  sys- 
tem only  retained.  Laboring  under  the  embarrassments  of  debt  in  the 
early  years  of  its  existence,  it  was  at  length  relieved  in  1849.  Since 
that  period,  by  the  earnest  and  liberal  zeal  of  prominent  members  of 
the  Baptist  church,  an  endowment  fund  has  been  accumulated,  now 
amounting  to  $194,000.  In  the  number,  excellence  and  elegance  of 
the  college  buildings.  Wake  Forest  is  the  equal  of  any  like  institution 
in  tlie  countrv. 


■"n 


DENOMINATIONAL    COLLEGES.  81" 

The  standard  of  scholarship  is  high,  and  the  graduates  number 
among  them  very  many  prominent  men,  not  only  in  the  pulpit,  but  in 
all  the  learned  professions  and  in  business  and  industrial  avocations. 

The  Faculty  now  consists  of  C.  E.  Taylor,  B.  Lit.,  D.D.,  President, 
Professor  Moral  Philosophy  and  Political  Science;  W.  B".  Royall,  M.  A., 
D  D.,  Professor  of  Greek  ;  L.  R.  Mills,  M.  A.,  Professor  of  Pure  Mathe- 
matics; W.  Royall,  M.  A.,  D.D.,  Professor  of  English;  B.  F.  Sledd, 
M.  A.,  Professor  Natural  History;  C.  E.  Brewer,  M.  A.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry;  G.  W.  Greene,  B.  A.,  Professor  of  Latin;  J.  F.  Lanneau, 
M.  A.,  Professor  of  Physics  and  Applied  Mathematics;  E.  G.  Beckwith, 
Assistant  Professor  of  Mathematics;  J.  B.  Carlyle,  M.  A.,  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor of  Languages;  T.  S.  Sprinkle,  B.  S.,  Director  of  Physical  Culture. 
The  number  of  students  1891-'2  was  2n. 

Ministers  receive  free  tuition.  All  those  of  their  class  who  have  been 
licensed  to  preach  and  are  unable  to  command  the  means  necessary  to 
defray  the  cost  of  board,  may  receive  aid  for  this  purpose  from  the 
Board  of  Education  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  so  far  as  the  means 
may  be  at  its  disposal.  Among  the  other  aids  to  indigent  young  men, 
is  the  "Bostwick  Loan  Fund,"  created  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Bostwick,  of  New 
York  Cit}',  who  has  given  to  the  College  one  hundred  and  twenty  shares 
of  $100  each,  12  per  cent,  stock,  in  the  Standard  Oil  Trust  Stock,  to  be 
held  in  perpetuity,  the  annual  interest,  at  present  $1,440,  to  be  used  in 
making  loans  to  students  to  pay  their  tuition  bills,  and  nothing  else,  to 
be  loaned  at  4  per  cent.,  payable  semi-annually,  on  terms  agreed  upon. 

The  North  Carolina  Baptist  Students'  Loan  Association,  incorporated 
March,  1877,  lends  money  arising  from  the  interest  of  its  invested  fund 
to  indigent  young  men  wishing  to  study  in  the  College,  the  loan  to  be 
repaid  with  intere-t  after  the  completion  of  the  course. 

DAVIDSON  COLLEGE,  the  Presbyterian  institution  of  higher  learning, 
may  be  regarded  as  the  legitimate,  if  somewhat  remote,  successor  to 
Queen's  College,  or  Liberty  Hall,  as  it  was  called  after  Royal  recogni- 
tion of  the  former  had  been  denied.  After  man}^  efforts  at  revival,  and 
against  strong  opposition  to  the  creation  of  a  distinctly  denominational 
college,  Concord  Presbytery,  in  the  spring  of  1835,  adopted  resolutions 
looking  to  the  establishment  of  a  Presbyterian  College  in  their  Presb}'- 
tery;  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  j'^ear  a  site  was  selected  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  Mecklenburg  County,  at  which  has  been  called  the  literary 
and  geographical  centre  of  the  State.  William  Lee  Davidson,  a  son 
of  the  Revolutionary  hero.  Gen.  William  Davidson,  donated  the  build- 
ing site,  together  with  a  large  tract  of  land  and  other  valuable  gifts. 
The  institution  was  named  in  honor  of  General  Davidson. 
6 


82  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  ( 'ollege  was  opened  in  March,  1837,  with  66  students.  A  charter 
was  granted  by  the  Legislature  in  1838.  The  manual  labor  system  was 
at  first  adopted,  but,  as  at  Wake  Forest,  it  proved  a  failure  and  was 
abandoned.  In  1855,  Maxwell  Chambers,  Esq.,  of  Salisbury,  made  the 
munificent  bequest  of  $258,000  to  the  College,  and  this  relieved  it  of  all 
existing  financial  trouble  and  assured  its  future  freedom  from  embar- 
rassment. The  terms  of  the  charter  limited  the  endowment  to  §^200, QUO, 
and  only  that  amount  could  be  realized  from  the  bequest.  About 
§100,000  of  this  endowment  was  lost  by  reason  of  the  war.  In  addition 
to  the  proceeds  arising  from  the  interest  of  this  endowment,  the  College 
has  endowed  scholarships,  such  as  the  Maxwell  Chambers  scholarship 
of  $3,000,  endowed  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Salisbury;  the  D.  A. 
Davis  scholarship  of  $1,500,  endowed  by  the  same  church;  the  George 
Brown  scholarship  of  $1,000,  endowed  by  Mrs.  A.  C.  Davis,  of  Salisbury, 
and  the  Thomas  Brown  scholarship  of  $1,000,  endowed  by  Brown  Bros., 
of  AVinsLon,  and  one  of  $500,  endowed  by  Gen.  Rufus  Barringer  and 
Mr.  George  E.  Wilson,  of  Charlotte. 

Two  regular  courses  of  stud}^,  leading  to  the  degrees  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts  and  Bachelor  of  Science,  each  requiring  four  years,  are  provided. 
The  requirements  for  admission  are  much  the  same  as  at  the  State  Uni- 
versity. A  post-graduate  course,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts,  is  available.  The  course  of  instruction  is  thorough,  and  many 
distinguished  men  of  the  State  arc  alumni  of  the  institution. 

The  Faculty  numbers  eight  professors  'J'he  Rev.  John  Bunyan 
Shearer,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  is  now  President. 

TRINITY  COLLEGE.— The  leading  Methodist  College  of  North  Carolina  is 
the  outgrowth  of  the  Grammar  School  established  by  the  Rev.  Brantley 
York  in  1838,  in  the  north-west  corner  of  Randolph  County,  five  miles 
south  of  the  town  of  High  Point,  on  the  North  Carolina  Railroad,  and 
about  one  hundred  miles  west  of  Raleigh.  In  1842  Dr.  York  resigned 
the  charge  of  the  school,  and  the  Rev.  B.  Craven,  then  only  nineteen 
years  old,  was  elected  as  successor.  In  1851  the  school  was  re-chartered 
and  the  name  changed  to  "  Normal  College."  By  this  charter  the 
school  was  brought  under  State  supervision,  and  the  Governor  of  the 
State  be^came  ex  officio  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  the 
8u]>erintendent  of  Common  Schools  Secretary.  The  object  of  this  con- 
nection was  to  secure  a  higher  grade  of  teachers  for  the  common 
schools;  and,  by  a  provision  of  the  charter,  a  certificate  from  the  Nor- 
mal College  was  made  ample  lawful  evidence  of  qualification  to  teach 
in  such  schools.  At  the  annual  session  of  the  North  Carolina  Confer- 
ence of  the  Methodist  Church,  held  in  Salisbury  in  1851,  the  connec- 


DENOMINATIONAL    COLLEGES.  83 

tion  between  the  school  and  the  Conference  was  adopted,  and  the 
Trustees  of  the  College  agreed  that  young  men  preparing  for  the  minis- 
try should  be  educated  without  charge.  In  1853  the  charter  was 
amended,  and  the  College  was  authorized  to  confer  degrees.  In  18o8-'9 
the  management  of  the  institution  was  transferred  to  the  North  Caro- 
lina Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  by  act 
of  the  Legislature  the  College  was  vested  in  the  Conference  with  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  usually  granted  in  such  cases,  and  the  name  was 
changed  from  Normal  to  Trinity  College.  The  College  suffered  from 
the  effects  of  the  war,  and  in  1865,  for  a  short  time,  exercises  were  sus- 
pended. Dr.  Craven,  in  that  year,  was  re-elected  President,  and  the 
next  year  exercises  were  resumed.  In  1882  Dr.  Craven  died,  with  dis- 
astrous influence  on  the  fortunes  of  the  institution,  which  fell  so  low  as 
to  threaten  its  existence.  Prominent  laj'inen  came  to  the  rescue,  and 
its  strength  was  renewed,  its  curriculum  broadened,  its  scholastic  stand- 
ard raised,  and  it  took  rank  with  the  other  colleges  of  the  South. 

In  1S90,  in  accordance  wiih  the  order  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
College,  of  the  North  Carolina  and  of  the  Western  North  Carolina 
Conference  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  of  the  General 
Assembly,  amending  the  charter,  the  institution  was  ordered  to  be 
removed  to  Durham,  where  Blackwell's  Park,  consisting  of  sixty-two 
and  a  half  acres  of  eligibly  situated  land,  was  secured  as  a  site  for  the 
buildings  and  grounds.  Liberal  donations  made  by  citizens  of  Dur- 
ham, and  other  munificent  aid,  have  enabled  the  management  to  pro- 
ceed so  r-apidly  with  the  construction  of  the  necessar}^  buildings  that 
the  session  of  1892-3  will  be  opened  at  Durham.  These  buildings 
consist  of  the  Main  College,  the  Technological  building,  the  College 
Inn,  the  Gymnasium  buildings  and  seven  residences  for  the  Faculty 
and  officers,  altogether  constituting  a  mass  of  well  constructed  and 
architecturally  imposing  edifices.  The  grounds  are  well  laid  off,  and 
the  whole  is  an  independent  municipal  corporation,  with  its  own  mayor, 
commissioners  and  peace  officer. 

At  present,  the  institution  has  eleven  chairs  of  instruction  and  six 
assistant  instructors,  distributed  among  the  several  departments  of 
instruction  into  which  the  work  of  the  College  is  divided.  The  work 
of  instruction  is  organized  under  the  following  departments,  viz.:  The 
Department  of  Philosophy  and  Letters;  the  Scientific  Department;  the 
Technological  Department;  the  Department  of  History,  Political  and 
Social  Science;  the  Theological  Department;  the  Law^  Deparment; 
and  the  Commercial  Department. 


84  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  College  fees  for  the  session  are  $60;  board  and  incidentals,  $95 
to  $140;  commencement  tax,  §2.50;  total,  $157.50  to  $202.50. 

John  Franklin  Crowell,  A.  B.,  Dr.  Litt.,  is  now  President. 

Among  the  other  denominational  colleges  is  Elon  College,  in  Ala- 
mance County,  on  the  line  of  the  North  Carolina  Railroad,  near  Gib- 
sonville  Station.  It  is  an  institution  founded  b}''  the  Christian  ('hurch. 
It  is  for  both  sexes,  and  has  a  good  attendance.  It  is  equipped  with 
large  and  well  constructed  buildings,  and  is  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  the 
cause  of  education. 

SECONDARY   INSTRUCTION. 

Under  this  title  is  to  be  named  the  class  of  schools  preparatory  in 
their  course,  but  so  broad  and  thorough  in  their  aims  as,  in  a  large 
number  of  cases,  to  meet  all  needed  requirements  of  education.  At 
the  head  of  these  is — 

THE  BINGHAM  SCHOOL,  established  in  1793  by  the  Rev.  William  Bing- 
ham, a  native  of  Ireland,  at  Pittsboro.  The  School,  in  its  succession 
through  three  generations  of  the  same  name  and  family,  has  long  been 
pre-eminent  in  the  South,  and  noted  throughout  the  wliole  Union. 
Mr.  Bingham,  for  five  years,  from  1801  to  1)S05,  was  Professor  of  Latin 
in  the  State  University,  and  then  resigned  to  re-open  his  School  at 
Hillsboro.  At  his  death,  in  1826,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son, 
William  J.  Bingham,  who  continued  it  for  twenty  years  at  Hillsboro, 
with  a  reputation  that  brought  him  pupils  from  all  parts  of  North 
Carolina  and  from  all  the  Southern  States.  Subsequently  the  School 
was  removed  to  Oaks,  in  Orange  County,  where  the  Principal  was  assisted 
by  his  sons  William  and  Robert  Bingham,  both  graduates  of  the  Uni- 
versity. On  the  death  of  the  elder  Bingham,  the  School  was  removed 
to  a  point  near  !Mebanesville,  in  the  same  county.  William  Bingham 
soon  after  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Robert,  by  whom  the 
institution  was  still  conducted.  In  addition  to  thorough  classical  and 
English  and  business  education,  since  the  war  the  military  feature  has 
been  added,  an  officer  of  the  United  States  Army  having  been  detailed 
as  commandant  of  the  cadets.  Owing  to  the  destruction  of  a  portion 
of  the  School  buildings  by  two  successive  fire-s.  Major  Robert  Bingham 
was  induced  by  favorable  offers  to  remove  the  School  to  Asheville,  where 
it  now  is,  without  abatement  of  its  usefulness  or  reputation. 

THE  HORNER  SCHOOL  was  established  in  Oxford  in  1851  by  James  H. 
Horner.  The  course  of  instruction  is  thorough,  embracing  the  classical, 
mathematical,  scientific  and  military  features.     Each  course  is  arranged 


PRIVATE    SCHOOLS    AND    COLLEGES.  85 

for  four  years.  The  classical  course  embraces  the  studies  in  the  schools 
of  I^atiu,  Greek,  Mathematics,  English  Grammar  and  Rhetoric,  Geogra- 
phy and  Plistory.  The  Scientific  and  English  course  embraces  Math- 
ematics, Natural  Science,  Metaphysics,  English  Grammar  and  Rhetoric, 
Geography,  History. 

French,  German  and  Bookkeeping  are  elective  studies.  The  School 
is  strictly  n.ilitary  in  its  organization  and  merit. 

THE  DAVIS  SCHOOL  is  a  classical  and  military  School,  established  at 
LaGrange,  Lenoir  County,  in  18G1,  by  Col.  A.  C.  Davis.  It  soon  com- 
manded extensive  patronage  and  acquired  wide  celebrity.  In  many 
respects  it  is  modelled  after  the  Bingham  School,  but  adopting  at  its 
foundation  the  military  feature.  Causes  not  necessary  to  refer  to,  sug- 
gested the  wisdom  of  the  removal  of  the  institution  to  some  other  point. 
Eligible  places  with  liberal  offers  by  citizens  were  made,  and  Winston 
was  selected,  land  acquired,  commodious  buildings  erected,  and  in  1890 
the  School  transferred  to  the  new  location  where  it  prospers  beyond 
anticipation,  the  cadets  numbering  annuall}'-  about  225 

PRIVATE   SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES. 

Many  institutions  in  North  Carolina,  ranked  in  the  reports  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  under  the  above  title,  have  merit 
sufficient  to  advance  them  into  the  class  of  colleges,  but,  being  placed 
under  the  supervision  of  the  public  school  authorities,  can  be  considered 
only  as  they  are  above  entitled.  There  are  so  many  of  them  that  they 
can  only  here  be  referred  to  briefly. 

Among  them  are  Holt's  School,  Graham  College  and  Oakdale  Acad- 
emy, all  at  Burlington,  Alamance  County,  all  for  both  sexes,  for  whites, 
and  Yadkin  Academy,  for  colored,  at  Mebanesville;  Weaverville  Col- 
lege, Weaverville,  Buncombe  County,  for  whites  and  for  both  sexes; 
Ravenscroft  High  School,  Asheville,  whites,  male;  Rutherford  Col- 
lege, near  Connelly's  Springs,  Burke  County,  whites,  male;  Catawba 
College,  Newton,  Catawba  County,  whites,  both  sexes;  Concordia  Col- 
lege, Connor,  Catawba  County,  whites,  both  sexes;  Thompson  School, 
Siler  City,  Chatham  County,  whites,  both  sexes;  Hayesville  Male  and 
Female  College,  Hayesville,  Clay  County,  whites;  Colored  Presbyterian 
School,  FayettevillC;  Cumberland  County,  both  sexes;  Warsaw  High 
School,  Warsaw,  Duplin. County,  whites,  both  sexes;  Woodward  High 
School,  Durham,  Durham  County,  colored,  both  sexes;  Louisburg 
Female  Academy,  Louisburg,  Franklin  County,  whites;  Gaston  College, 
Dallas,  Gas' on  County,  whites,  female;  High  Classical  School,  Oxford, 


86  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Granville  County,  colored,  both  sexes;  Oak  Ridge  School,  Oak  Ridge, 
Guilford  County,  whites,  both  sexes;  Guilford  College,  Guilford  County, 
whites,  both  sexes;  High  Point  Female  College,  High  Point,  Guilford 
County,  whites;  Liberty  Academy,  Liberty,  Randolph  County,  whites, 
both  sexes;  Leaksville  High  School,  Leaksville,  Rockingham  County, 
whites,  both  sexes;  Enochville  High  School,  Rowan  County,  whites, 
both  sexes;  Monroe  High  School,  Monroe,  Union  County,  whites,  both 
sexes;  Kittrell  Normal  and  Industrial  School,  Kittrell,  Vance  County, 
colored,  both  sexes;  Skyland  Institute,  Blowing  Rock,  Watauga  County, 
whites,  both  sexes;  Moravian  Falls  Academy,  AVilkes  County,  whites, 
both  sexes;  Nahunta  Acadeni}',  Pinkney,  Wayne  County,  whites,  both 
sexes. 

HIGHER   FEMALE    EDUCATION. 

The  State  of  North  Carolina,  while  acting  promptly,  though  not 
always  munificently,  upon  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution  to  pro- 
vide for  the  higher  education  of  its  male  3'outh,  exhibited  no  })ractical 
concern  for  that  of  the  equally  needy  and  deserving  female  j'^outh. 
Only  recentl}''  has  the  sovereign  conscience  been  awakened,  through 
the  persistent  energies  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
Major  S.  M.  Finger,  and  the  Normal  and  Industrial  School  established 
at  Greensboro  for  the  education  of  females  in  the  special  branches 
designated  in  the  charter.  The  care  of  female  education,  therefore, 
devolved  upon  individual  or  denominational  interest  in  the  intellectual 
welfare  and  training  of  that  sex  upon  w'hom  so  unavoidably  depends 
the  complexion  of  society,  of  its  morals,  its  manners,  its  habits,  and,  as 
human  history  illustrates  in  innumerable  instances,  of  its  intellectual 
culture  and  its  ultimate  useful  tendencies  and  results. 

To  this  individual  and  denominational  solicitude  is  due  the  existence 
of  the  female  schools  and  academies  which  have  trained  and  refined 
the  generations  of  wives  and  mothers,  taking  their  places  in  the  social 
world,  adding  new  lustre  to  their  sex,  adorning  their  homes  with  all 
that  makes  home  happy,  refined  and  useful,  and  giving  perennial  illus- 
tration of  the  influence  of  tlie  wife  and  the  mother  upon  the  character, 
the  fame  and  the  fortunes  of  the  husband,  the  son  and  the  brother. 

The  first  of  the  j)nb]ic  female  schools  to  be  named  is — 

THE  SALEM  FEMALE  ACADEMY,  founded  by  the  Moravians  in  1802.  There 
had  been  private  schools  in  the  State  so  excellent  as  to  have  dravvMi  to 
them  patronage  from  distant  parts  of  the  State,  but  the  honor  must  be 
ascribed  to  the  Moravians  of  having  located  the  first  institution  of  a 
public  nature,  and  which  now,  after  the  lapse  of  ninety  years,  grows. 


HIGHER    FEMALE    EDUCATION.  87 

rather  than  loses,  in  usefuhie5s  and  reputation,  for  it  draws  to  it  annual 
recruits  from  all  and  the  most  distant  of  the  Southern  and  Western 
States,  to  fill  the  places  of  those  sent  forth  to  illustrate  the  solidity  and 
the  splendor  of  their  mental  and  social  equipment. 

The  school  is  regularly  graded  with  a  four-years  mathematical  course, 
with  most  thorough  cultivation  in  music,  painting,  drawing  and  needle- 
work. A  commercial  course  is  also  provided.  The  corps  of  instructors 
is  from  twenty-six  to  thirty.  The  whole  number  of  alumnse  is  between 
six  thousand  and  seven  thousand. 

For  many  years  it  was  the  only  institution  of  wide  repute  in  the 
South  for  female  education.  Its  pupils,  therefore,  have  been  wtII  rep- 
resented in  the  leading  families  in  the  South.  A  large  number  of  these 
alumnai  became  teachers  and  heads  of  seminaries  and  academies,  with 
the  best  and  most  useful  influences  upon  the  subjects  of  their  train- 
ing. 

The  buildings  and  accommodations  of  this  school  are  elegant  and 
commodious. 

ST.  MARY'S  SCHOOL,  at  Raleigh,  occupies  the  buildings  and  grounds 
once  used  by  the  Episcopal  School  For  Boys.  They  were  applied  to 
their  present  uses  in  May,  1S42,  when  the  Rev.  Aldert  Smedes  founded 
the  present  St.  Mary's  Schoo',  under  the  auspices  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  North  Carolina.  The  exercises  have  been  maintained  con- 
tinuously ever  since,  the  son  of  the  founder,  the  Rev.  Bennett  Smedes, 
succeeding  to  the  control  on  the  death  of  his  father.  The  patronage 
is  from  this  State  and  many  of  the  other  Southern  States.  The  course 
of  education  is  ample,  embracing  all  the  substantial  branches,  as  well 
as  the  ornamental,  to  the  extremtst  point  of  culture.  The  course  is 
arranged  for  five  years. 

PEACE  INSTITUTE  is  situated  in  the  city  of  Raleigh,  in  grounds 
containing  eight  acres,  and  the  main  building,  which  cost  $40,000,  is 
probably  the  largest  and  one  of  the  best  school  buildings  in  the  State. 
The  Institute  is  the  outgrowth  of  prominent  men  in  the  North  Carolina 
Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  establish  at  the  State  capital  a 
school  for  young  ladies,  to  be  of  high  grade.  When  the  steps  were 
taken  to  establish  such  school,  William  Peace,  of  Raleigh,  headed  the 
subscription  with  ^10,000,  and,  in  recognition  of  his  generosity,  the 
Institute  was  honored  with  his  name.  The  buildings  were  erected 
before  the  war,  but  before  being  used  as  a  school  they  were  taken  posses- 
sion of  by  the  Confederate  Government  and,  during  the  war,  used  as  a 
hospital.  After  the  w-ar,  in  1872,  Peace  Institute  was  leased  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Burwell,  D.  D.,  and  his  son,  John  B.  Burwell,  and  continued 


88  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAEOLIXA. 

under  the  management  of  father  and  son  until  recently,  when  it  came 
under  the  management  of  Mr.  Dinwiddie,  with  continued  prosperity 
and  reputation. 

The  average  annual  enrollment  is  about  two  hundred,  representing 
a  large  number  of  Southern  States,  Its  course  of  instruction  embraces 
the  following  departments :  Collegiate,  Normal,  Primary,  Kindergarten, 
Music,  and  Fine  Arts;  and,  in  thoroughness,  is  ec[ual  to  any  female 
school  in  the  South. 

GREENSBORO  FEMALE  COLLEGE  occupies  a  fine  brick  building  in  a  fine 
natural  park  of  forty  acres  in  a  pleasant  part  of  Greensboro.  It  is  a 
Methodist  institution,  the  original  suggeslion  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
Greensboro  Female  School,  to  the  Virginia  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  asking  that  a  female  college  under  their  auspices, 
be  established  at  Greensboro.  This  was  in  1837,  when  the  North  Caro- 
lina Conference  had  no  separate  existence.  It  acc[uired  such  the  same 
3'ear;  and  in  1838  the  North  Carolina  Conference  obtained  a  charter 
from  the  State  Legislature.  This  was  the  first  female  college  char- 
tered in  North  Carolina,  and  the  first  south  of  the  Potomac,  except 
Wesleyan  Female  College  at  Macon,  Ga.  The  institution  was  opened 
for  students  under  the  presidency  of  the  Rev.  Solomon  Lea,  succeeded, 
as  the  result  of  succe-sive  resignations,  by  the  Rev.  A.  M.  Shipp,  D.  D  , 
the  Rev.  Chas.  F.  Deems,  and  the  Rev.  T.  M.  Jones.  The  school  build- 
ing was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1863,  and  not  rebuilt  until  1871.  It  was 
opened  in  1873  under  the  presidency  of  the  Rev.  T.  M.  Jones,  and  con- 
tinued under  him  with  great  success  until  the  period  of  his  death,  which 
occuned  in  1889,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  B.  F.  Dixon. 

A  prcparator}^  course  and  a  collegiate  course  requiring  four  years  is 
provided.  The  Faculty  is  a  full  one,  and  the  attendance  of  pupils  is 
from  150  to  200,  representing  several  Southern  and  Western  States. 

THE  CHOWAN  BAPTIST  FEMALE  INSTITUTE  is  located  at  Murfreesboro, 
Hertford  County.  It  has  very  fine  buildings,  situated  on  highly  orna- 
mented ground.--,  containing  twenty-eight  acres.  This  instiiution  origi- 
nated in  the  purpose  of  the  Bertie  Union  Meeting  (Baptist)  embracing 
the  counties  of  Nortliampton,  Bertie  and  Hertford,  to  establish  in  their 
midst  a  high  school  for  girls,  and  a  school  building  was  provided  at 
MurfreesV>oro  and  opened  October  11,  1S4S,  with  the  Rev.  A.  McDowell, 
of  South  Carolina,  and  a  graduate  of  Wake  Forest  College,  as  president. 
The  pros{)erity  of  the  institution  was  so  rapid  and  so  marked  as 
demanded  the  erection  of  large  buildings,  and  in  1851,  a  joint  slock 
company  took  charge  of  the  school,  .selected  a  new  site  and  completed 
a  large  and  liandsome  brick  building.     The  value  of  the  property  is 


HIGHER    FEMALE    EDUCATION.  89 

now  estimated  at  $50,000.  The  funds  were  chiefly  contributed  by  the 
Chowan  Association.  With  its  greater  facilities,  the  institution  was 
soon  filled  with  young  ladies  from  most  of  the  Southern  States,  and 
some  from  the  Nor  h.  It  has  had  successively  as  its  presidents,  Dr. 
McDowell,  Rev.  William  Hooper,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Rev.  Mr.  Forney,  and 
again  Dr.  McDowell,  who  returned  to  tlie  presidenc}'  in  1802,  and  died 
in  1881,  to  be  succeeded  by  Prof.  John  B.  Brcwt  r,  the  present  president. 
In  the  College  there  are  two  departments,  the  preparatory,  requiring 
two  years  for  completion,  and  the  collegiate,  four  years.  In  the  latter 
the  course  is  as  full  and  satisfactory  as  in  the  other  female  colleges  in 
the  State. 

THE  OXFORD  FEMALE  SEMINARY  is  the  continuation  of  the  Raleigh 
Female  Seminary  (Baptist)  established  in  Raleigh  about  1870  by  the 
Rev.  William  Royal),  D.D.,  who,  on  his  transfer  to  Wake  Forest,  was 
succeeded  by  Prof.  F.  P.  Hobgood,  who  removed  the  institution  to 
Oxford  with  a  corresponding  change  of  name.  It  has  there  flourished. 
The  school  grounds  comprise  four  acres,  handsomely  laid  out.  The 
course  of  study  comprises  b^th  a  preparatory  and  a  collegiate  depart- 
ment. The  Faculty  consists  of  learued  ins'.ructors  in  ample  force  and 
of  higli  qualification,  representing  in  their  acquirements  the  Universit}^ 
of  Virginia,  the  Stuttgart  Conservatory,  the  Cooper  Institute,  and  other 
well  known  institutions. 

THE  ASHEVILLE  FEMALE  COLLEGE  is  a  flourishing  institution,  originally 
establislied  under  the  auspices  of  the  Holston  (Methodist)  College.  It 
possesses  one  of  the  finest  collegiate  buildings  in  North  Carolina,  situa- 
ted in  a  grove  of  thirteen  acres  in  extent  almost  in  the  centre  of  Ashe- 
ville.  It  has  a  full  corps  of  able  instructors  in  the  preparatory,  collegiate 
and  ornamental  branches,  and  draws  a  large  patronage  from  most  of 
the  Southern  and  Western  States,  together  with  a  large  local  attend- 
ance.    Prof.  B.  E.  Atkins  is  at  present  president  of  the  institution 

NORMAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL  FOR  FEMALES.  The  neglect  by  the 
State  of  its  duties  in  relation  to  female  education  as  a  care  of  the  State, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  males,  was  partially  repaired  at  the  session  of  the 
General  Assembly  at  the  urgent  instance  of  the  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  S.  M.  Finger,  zealously  supported  by  members  of 
the  Legislature  and  endorsed  by  public  sentiment.  The  act  creating 
this  institution  authorized  the  existence  of  a  "  Normal  and  Industrial 
School  for  Females,"  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  pupils  for  the  voca- 
tion of  teaching  and  to  equip  them  with  a  practical  industrial  education 
for  their  future  self-maintenance.  To  secure  the  construction  of  the 
school  at  Greensboro,  the  citizens  of  that  place  made  a  cash  donation 


90  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

of  §30,000  for  the  erection  of  the  buildings;  to  which  the  State  added 
$30,000  for  the  same  purpose.  Amply  large  grounds  were  donated  by 
R.  S.  Pullen  and  R.  T.  Gray,  of  Raleigh,  and  others;  but  the  names 
mentioned  alone  appear  in  the  deed  of  conveyance.  Two  handsome 
and  capacious  brick  buildings  have  been  constructed,  and  the  institu- 
tion is  to  be  opened  on  the  28th  of  September,  1892. 

The  school  is  endowed  by  the  State  with  an  annual  appropriation  of 
$10,000;  and  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  on  behalf  of  the  Peabody  Fund,  has 
given  $2,000  for  this  year,  with  the  prospect  of  making  a  similar  gift 
annual  and  permanent. 

There  are  other  meritorious  institutions  for  the  education  of  females 
in  the  State,  but  the  list  cannot  be  conveniently  extended  in  a  publi- 
cation of  this  kind. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  schools  and  colleges  for  the  whites,  brief 
reference  wall  be  made  to  some  of  the  efforts  of  the  Friends,  or  Quakers, 
to  illustrate  the  loyalty  of  their  sect  to  the  cause  of  education. 

THE  NEW  GARDEN  OR  FRIENDS  BOARDING  SCHOOL,  is  at  New  Garden,  in 
Guilford  County,  six  miles  west  of  Greensboro,  and  now  on  the  raih'oad 
extending  from  that  city  to  Winston.  In  1883  the  School  was  located 
on  its  present  site,  and  in  1834  a  charter  was  granted.  The  Trustees 
purchased  a  small  tract,  contiguous  to  which  Elihu  Coffin  added  a  gift 
of  seventy  acres.  Donations  in  raone}'-  followed  from  other  States,  and 
liberal  contributions  came  from  Friends  in  England.  The  School  M'as 
opened  in  1837  as  a  mixed  school,  on  the  first  day  twenty-five  boys  and 
twenty-five  girls  being  present.  The  institution  now  has  three  large 
and  well  equipped  brick  buildings.  Two  courses  of  study,  the  "Liter- 
ary and  Scientific,"  and  the  "Classical"  are  provided,  each  extending 
over  four  years,  and  special  normal  instruction  is  given  ;  diplomas  to 
graduates,  but  no  degrees  are  given.  Since  its  establishment,  more 
than  3,000  boys  and  girls  have  studied  there. 

There  are  other  institutions  belonging  to  the  Friends,  only  here  to 
be  noted  by  name:  Belvidere  Academy,  Perquimans  County,  opened 
in  lt35;  the  "  Baltimore  Friends,"  who  have  established  twelve  or  more 
schools  under  their  direction  ;  and  the  "Model  Farm  "  enterprise,  estab- 
lished near  High  Point  in  1867,  designed  to  elevate  agriculture  and  to 
add  to  itslprofits.  The  farm  contains  two  hundred  acres,  and  is  placed 
under  the  charge  of  an  experienced  agriculturist.  The  enterprise  has 
proved  a  great  success  and  has  become,  indeed,  a  model  farm. 

The  Philadelphia  Friends  have  established  numerous  schools  in  this 
State  for  the  benefit  of  the  colored  i)eople,  and  the  Friends  of  New  Yoik 
have  done  the  s;nne  for  both  whites  and  colored. 


COLLEGES  FOR  THE  COLORED  PEOPLE.  91 


COLLEGES   FOR  THE  COLORED   PEOPLE. 

In  addition  to  the  number  of  public  schools  for  the  colored  race  taught 
in  1890  (2,327  in  all),  and  the  higher  schools  named  above,  there  are  five 
instituiions  of  such  elevation  of  aim,  such  extent  of  facilities  aud  such 
ampleness  of  equipment  as  to  rank  them  among  the  colleges  of  the 
State.  These  are  Biddle  Institute, at  Charlotte;  Scotia  Seminary, Con- 
cord; Bennett  Seminary,  Greensboro;  Livingstone  College,  Salisbury; 
and  Shaw  University,  Raleigh. 

These  institutions  are  none  of  them  within  the  control  of  the  educa- 
tional authorities  of  the  State,  make  no  reports  to  them,  and  are  the 
sole  repositories  of  information  relating  to  their  management  and  con- 
dition. Respectful  application  for  such  information  was  made  to  the 
Presidents  or  officers  in  charge,  that  the  colleges  of  the  colored  people 
might  be  placed  on  equal  footing  in  this  work  with  those  of  the  whites. 
Responses  were  made  from  four  of  these  institutions — Shaw  University, 
at  Raleigh ;  Livingstone  College,  at  Salisbury;  Scotia  Seminary, at  Con- 
cord; and  Biddle  University,  at  Charlotte. 

SHAW  UNIVERSITY  had  its  origin  in  the  interest  of  the  Rev.  H.  M.  Tup- 
per,  D.  D.,  of  Manson,  Mass.,  who  was  a  private  during  the  war,  and, 
after  the  cessaiion  of  hostilities,  was  sent  to  Raleigh,  N.  C,  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  the  colored  people,  founding  a  church  and  opening  the 
school  which  gradually  expanded  into  the  now  extensive  and  well 
endowed  Shaw  University.  The  LTniversit}'  owes  its  name  to  the  bene- 
faction of  Hon.  Elijah  Shaw,  of  Wales,  Mass.,  who  pledged  to  the  aid 
of  Dr.  Tupper's  movement  the  sum  of  $5,000. 

The  property  of  the  late  General  Daniel  M.  Barringer  was  soon  after- 
wards purchased  for  $13,000. 

The  University  is  now  well  established,  with  extensive  grounds,  hand- 
some and  capacious  buildings,  all  of  brick,  with  collegiate  buildings, 
boarding-houses,  chapel,  medical  and  law-school  buildings  and  all  the 
appliances  for  a  University  course. 

There  is  the  Theological  Department,  in  which  young  men  are 
trained  for  the  ministry;  the  Leonard  Medical  School,  with  a  fine 
building  and  a  corps  of  competent  teachers;  the  Law  Department,  and 
the  Female  De[)artment,  provided  with  a  capacious  four-story  brick 
building;  the  whole  with  ample  and  shaded  and  ornamented  grounds, 
giving  token  of  a  very  remarkable  change  in  I  he  condition  of  the  col- 
ored race.  The  value  of  the  whole  properly  is  estimated  at  $150,000, 
free  from  encumbrance. 


92 


HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


Among  the  students  are  representatives  from  most  of  the- Southern 
States,  some  from  the  Norlhern  States,  three  from  the  West  Indies,  one 
from  South  America,  one  from  the  G  M  Coast  of  Africa  and  three  from 
the  Congo. 

As  a  matter  of  interest,  the  Catalogue  for  1S91-2  is  inserted,  as 
follows: 


PREPARATORY   NORMAL. 

Males 12 

Females 11 

NORMAL   COURSE. 

Males 132 

Females 132 

SCIENTIFIC   COURSE. 

Males 25 

18 


Females 


Males . 


CLASSICAL  COURSE. 


MEDICAL  COURSE. 

Males 01 

Females 1 


23 
264 

43 

10 

62 


Males. 


LAW   COURSE. 


PHARMACY  COURSE. 

Males.... 10 

Females 1 


Males . 


THEOLOGIC-\L   COURSE. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL. 


Males 

Females  (School  of  Dress-mak- 
ing, Domestic  Arts,  Cooking, 
etc.) 

Instrumental  Music 

Total  males  not  counted  twice 265 

Total  females  not  counted  twice.  167 

Total 


13 

11 
46 

191 


122 
64 


432 


SCOTIA  SEMINARY,  located  at  Concord,  Cabarrus  County,  X.  C,  is  an 
institution  for  colored  girls,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Northern  Pres- 
byterian Church.  The  buildings  are  large  and  handsome.  The  object 
of  the  institution  is  to  give  an  education  to  colored  girls  of  a  useful  and 
practical  kind,  as  well  as  a  due  share  of  the  ornamental  branches,  and 
with  special  regard  to  religious  and  moral  training.  The  Rev.  I).  J. 
Satterfield,  D.D.,  is  President.  The  patronage  is  good,  as  shown  by  the 
following  summary : 

GENERAL  SUMMARY. 


Normal  and  Scientific  Department...     17 

Grammar  School  Department V27 

Preparatory  Department 114 

Total 258 


Boarding  Pupils 25 1 

Day  Pupils 7 

Total. 258 


SUMMARY   BY  STATES. 

North  Carolina 14tl  Tennessee 

South  Carolina 77  Alabama 

Georgia 20  New  York 

Virginia 11  Maryland 

Florida 3  Pennsylvania 


Total 258 


COLLEGES  FOR  THE  COLORED  PEOPLE.  93 

LIVINGSTONE  COLLEGE  originated  in  the  North  Caro.lina  Conference  of 
the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church.  It  began  i(s  work,  as 
Zion  Wesley  Institute,  in  one  room  of  a  minister's  parsonage  in  Con- 
cord, N.  C,  in  1879.  In  1881  Rev.  J.  C.  Price  went  to  London  as  a 
delegate  to  the  Ecumenical  Conference,  which  met  in  that  city  in  Sep- 
tember of  the  same  year.  After  the  adjournment  of  the  Conference, 
Mr.  Price  remained  in  Great  .Britain  about  a  year,  and  during  this  time 
he  raised  ten  thousand  dollars  with  which  the  trustees  of  the  institution 
bought  the  present  site,  consisting  then  of  one  dwelling  and  forty  acres 
of  land.  The  institution  has  had  a  steady  and  successful  growth  ever 
since. 

The  institution  was  originally  chartered  under  the  name  of  Zion 
Wt  sley  College — subsequently  changed  to  Livingstone  College.  Begin- 
ning with  three  teachers  and  three  pupils,  there  are  now  twelve  instruc- 
tors and  two  hundred  and  fifty  students  And  the  institution  is  now 
conducted  in  four  large  buildings,  with  fifty  acres  attached,  the  whole 
property,  near  the  town  of  Salisbur}'',  being  valued  at  |100,000,  Besides 
the  main  building,  there  are  seven  or  eight  cottages  for  the  use  of  the 
instructors.  The  school  is  owned,  taught  and  controlled  by  negroes. 
The  entire  teaching  force  is  paid  by  the  colored  people  themselves. 

This  institution  is  supported  by  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Zion  Church.  They  appropriate  $6,000  for  its  maintenance  every  year. 
In  addition  to  this  amount,  the  churches  give  $2,000  every  year  as 
Children's  Day  money.  The  students  pay  toward  their  own  support 
about  $4,000  every  year. 

The  President,  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Price,  D.D.,  a  full-blooded  negro,  a  man 
of  fine  ability  and  with  remarkable  gifts  of  oratory,  makes  the  writer 
of  these  pages  the  following  interesting  statement: 

"As  range  of  instruction  we  have  three  regular  departments — pre- 
parator}^,  normal  and  classical.  The  last  course  is  also  termed  college 
course,  and  the  person  completing  the  studies  of  this  course,  receives 
the  degree  of  A.  B.  The  special  work  of  the  normal,  of  course,  is  the 
preparation  of  teachers  and  for  others  who  cannot  or  do  not  take  the 
college  course.     Number  of  Faculty  twelve,  including  officers. 

"Our  buildings  are  large  and  commodious.  One  building  is  100x40 
and  four  stories  high,  brick ;  another  is  60  x  40,  four  stories,  brick  ; 
another  is  91  x  38,  three  stories,  frame  ;  another  is  66  x  86,  two  stories, 
brick.  Students  are  not  admitted  under  twelve.  Of  250  students,  200 
are  from  other  towns  and  States.  Last  3'ear  we  had  seventeen  States 
and  seventy-five  towns  and  cities  represented  in  the  institution.  The 
sexes  are  about  equally  divided. 


94  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

"I  neglected  to  say  that  buildings  have  been  donated  the  institution 
by  such  men  as  the  late  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Dodge,  Senator  Leland  Stanford, 
Hon.  C.  P.  Huntington,  and  Mr.  Stephen  Ballard.  We  have  more  than 
a  score  of  friends  North  and  South,  who  give  scholarships  to  the  insti- 
tution for  the  purpose  of  aiding  (not  supporting)  students." 

BIDDLE  UNIVERSITY,  Charlotte,  is  a  collegiate  institution,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  or,  more  specifically,  under  the 
care  of  the  Board  of  Missions  for  Freedmen  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States,  Pittsburg,  Pa.  The  University  occupies  large  and 
fine  buildin-gs  in  Charlotte,  and  is  named  in  honor  of  Major  Henry  J. 
Biddle,  of  Philadelphia,  whose  widow  is  now  one  of  its  most  liberal 
supporters.  The  objects  of  the  institution  are  the  education  of  colored 
preachers  and  teachers,  and  fitting  pupils  for  the  useful  avocations  of 
life.  It  has  a  Theological  Department,  with  a  corps  of  five  profes.-ors, 
with  a  course  of  three  3'ears;  a  college  course,  with  a  corps  of  six  pro- 
fessors and  a  course  of  four  years,  with  the  usual  college  designation  of 
classes.  The  college  course  embraces  two  courses  of  study— the  Classi- 
cal and  the  Scientific — the  students  of  the  former  receiving  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Arts  on  graduation ;  the  other  that  of  Bachelor  of  Science. 
There  is  also  a  Preparatory  and  Normal  Department,  with  its  appro- 
priate Faculty;  an  Industrial  Department,  in  which  the  mechanical 
trades  are  taught;  and  the  Home  Department,  which  embraces  chiefly 
the  domestic  and  internal  order  of  the  college  buildings  and  grounds. 
The  whole  number  of  students  for  1891-'2  is  205,  in  all  the  departments, 
viz.:  Theological,  17;  Collegiate, 51;  Preparatory  and  Normal,  137.  The 
President  of  the  University  is  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Sanders,  D.D. 

ST.  AUGUSTINE  THEOLOGICAL  AND  NORMAL  SCHOOL  is  an  institution  estab- 
lished in  Raleigh  for  the  education  of  colored  pupils  of  both  sexes.  It 
is  under  the  control  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  North  Carolina,  and 
was  establislied  out  of  the  proceeds  of  a  bequest  of  §10,000  made  by  a 
citizen  of  Pennsylvania.  The  institution  is  situated  in  the  vicinity  of 
Raleigh,  and  occupies  suitable  substantial  buildings  of  brick,  witli  sepa- 
rate provision  for  the  two  sexes.  The  course  embraces  the  Theological, 
Collegiate,  Normal,  and  Industrial  branches.  Young  colored  men  are 
trained  for  the  ministry,  and  also  for  the  avocation  of  teaching.  Young 
women  are  also  trained  as  teachers,  and  attention  is  given  to  useful 
industrial  training.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hunter  is  now  President,  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Sutton  is  at  the  head  of  the  Theologic.>il  Department. 

AGRICULTURAL  AND  MECHANICAL  COLLEGE  FOR  THE  COLORED  RACE.— Recog- 
nizing the  nei'il  of  j)ractifal  training  for  the  young  men  of  the  colored 
race,  and  with  a  view  to  aid  them  in  maintaining  themselves  in  the 


COLLEGES  FOR  THE  COLOBED  PEOPLE.  95 

higher  grades  of  industrial  life,  the  I^egislature  of  North  Carolina,  at 
the  session  of  1 891,  enacted  "  that  a  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic 
Arts  be  established  for  the  colored  race,  to  be  located  at  some  eligible 
place  within  the  State,  to  be  selected  by  the  Board  of  Trustees"  charged 
with  the  management  of  the  institution.  The  corporate  name  is  "The 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  for  the  Colored  Race." 

The  selection  of  the  location  was  open  to  the  offers  of  the  various 
coramunicies  desirous  of  the  presence  of  the  institution,  and  was  influ- 
enced, in  connection  with  ease  of  access  and  similar  considerations,  by 
the  most  liberal  offers  in  land  and  money  for  the  erection  of  the  build- 
ings. Greensboro  became  the  successful  bidder,  and  the  work  of  con- 
struction is  now  in  progress. 

The  State  appropriates  annually  out  of  the  public  monej^s  $2,500  to 
the  support  of  the  school. 


96  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CARODINA. 


DESCRIPTION   OF  COUNTIES. 

The  counties  in  the  State  are  ninety-six  in  number.  Addition  to 
them  has  been  made,  as  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  increasing  popu- 
lation, by  subdivision  of  the  larger  ones,  or  the  combination  of  portions 
of  those  lying  contiguous  to  each  other.  The  limit  of  addition  has  now 
probably  been  reached. 

The  counties  have  already  been  named  in  the  statement  of  popula- 
tion. They  will  be  considered  here  alphabetically,  the  descriptions 
being  drawn  from  personal  observation  or  the  most  reliable  authorities; 
and  the  statistics  are  taken  from  the  last  annual  report  of  the  Auditor 
of  the  State,  excepting  such  as  relate  to  industrial  operations,  natural 
resources  and  such  other  topics  as  are  germane  to  those  subjects. 

The  first  to  be  named  is  the  county  of 

ALAMANCE. 

Historically,  this  county  possesses  great  interest.  It  was  the  focus  of 
the  troubles  of  the  Regulators,  and  on  its  soil  was  fought  the  decisive 
battle  between  the  Royal  forces  and  those  of  the  rebellious  colonists,  a 
preliminary  to  the  struggle  between  the  Crown  and  the  colonies,  to  be 
continued  until  American  Independence  was  secured  by  the  success  of 
the  latter.  The  county  was  formed  in  1848  from  parts  of  Guilford  and 
Orange. 

This  county  is  drained  by  the  upper  waters  of  the  Cape  Fear  River, 
and  one  of  its  principal  tributaries,  the  Haw  River,  crosses  it  from  the 
north-western  to  the  south- eastern  corner.  The  soils  of  this  count v  are 
largely  fertile  red-clay  loams,  with  oak  and  hickory  forests.  Slate  hills, 
which  rise  to  the  elevation  of  low  mountain  chains,  occupy  the  southern 
end  of  the  coun'y,  and  have  oak  and  pine  forests  and  thin,  sandy  loam 
soils.  The  northern  portion  consists  of  alternating  tracts  of  gray  sandy 
loams  and  red  clays.  The  cotton  belt  barely  touches  the  southern  edge 
of  the  county.  The  upper  end  is  devoted  to  the  production  of  tobacco, 
and  the  whole  of  it  to  grain  crops,  of  which  the  yield  is  large. 

The  manufacturing  ffxcilities  of  the  county  are  very  great,  and,  in 
number  of  cotton-looms  and  spindles,  Alamance  stands  first  of  all  the 
counties  in  the  State.  There  are  also  gold  deposits,  both  vein  and 
placer,  in  the  middle  and  southern  sections. 

The  North  Carolina  Railroad  runs  through  the  centre  of  the  county, 
and  has  been  an  important  .stimulus  to  its  industries  and  general  pros- 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  97 

perity.  Graham  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  991.  It  con- 
tains three  cotton  factories.  Haw  River  town,  the  seat  of  the  Granite 
Cotton  Factory,  contains  317  inhabitants.  Burlington,  formerly  known 
as  Company  Shops,  and  the  location  of  the  railroad  machine-shops,  has 
a  population,  by  census  of  1890,  of  1,726.     Here  are  five  cotton  factories. 

This  county  contains  230,039  acres  of  land,  with  a  valuation  of 
$1,885,543,  and  501  town  lots,  valued  at  $528,998.  The  leading  prod- 
uct is  tobacco,  the  crop  of  which  in  1889,  by  the  Census  Report  of  1890, 
was  901,922  pounds,  with  a  small  area  in  the  south-east  corner  of  the 
county  in  which  cotton  is  successfully  produced.  The  production  of 
wheat  and  other  grains  is  large,  and  it  is  unsurpassed  for  the  quality 
and  abundance  of  the  fruits  adapted  to  the  climate,  and  is  also  favor- 
able to  the  raising  of  the  domestic  animals.  The  Auditor's  last  report 
shows  the  number  of  these  to  be,  2,581  horses,  815  mules,  6  jacks  and 
jennies,  43  goats,  5,891  cattle,  8,222  hogs,  4,113  sheep. 

The  receipts  from  taxation  from  this  report  gives,  as  the  general  State 
tax,  $9,541  67  ;  for  pensions,  $1,287.28  ;  for  school  purposes,  $10,313.19; 
and  for  county  purposes,  $11,043.61. 

The  population  of  Alamance  by  the  last  census  was,  white?,  12,688; 
colored,  5,583;  all  others,  3;  total,  18,271. 

ALEXANDER. 

Alexander,  one  of  the  smallest  counties  in  North  Carolina,  lies  south 
of  Wilkes,  and  is  separated  from  it  by  the  chain  of  the  Brushy  Moun- 
tains. A  large  part  of  this  county  is  traversed  or  penetrated  by  spurs 
and  high  ridges  thrown  off  southward  from  that  range,  many  of  which 
rise  to  the  elevation  of  2,000  feet,  and  its  territory  is  drained  southward 
by  the  tributaries  of  the  Catawba.  The  south-eastern  section,  as  well 
as  the  middle,  is  characterized  largely  by  oak  forests,  with  red-clay  soils, 
the  higher  divides  and  ridges  and  spurs  showing  a  large  admixture  of 
pine  and  chestnut,  and  a  more  open  light-colored  and  sand}^  soil.  The 
northern,  w^estern,  and  north-eastern  sections  are  quite  broken  and 
mountainous.  The  culture  of  cotton  has  entered  the  territory  of  this 
county  within  the  last  few  years,  though  its  product  amounts  to  but  a 
few  scores  of  bales.  Tobacco  is  cultivated  to  some  extent  on  the  lighter 
soils,  but  corn  and  wheat  are  the  principal  products.  It  has  ample, 
but  undeveloped,  water-power,  and  it  has  iron-ore  beds  of  considerable  » 
extent,  as  well  as  a  great  variety  of  other  minerals. 

The  county  contains  157,250  acres  of  land.     The  area  in  cultivation 
is  well  adapted  to  all  the  grains,  as  well  as  the  other  products  already 
7 


98  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

named,  and  is  especially  adapted  to  fruits,  and  the  sides  of  the  Brushy 
Mountains  are  famed  for  fine  apples,  peaches  and  cherries,  the  crops  of 
which  never  fail,  being  secured  by  the  existence  of  a  thermal  belt  along 
the  higher  sides  of  that  range  of  mountains.  The  Auditor's  Report 
shows  the  following  to  be  the  number  of  domestic  animals  in  the  county  : 
880  horses,  1,022  mules,  44  jacks  and  jennies,  4,204  cattle,  7,402  hogs, 
2,918  sheep. 

This  county  contains  157, 250  acres  of  land,  with  a  valuation  of 
$590,789. 

The  receipts  for  taxation  are,  for  general  State  purposes,  $2,476.93; 
for  pensions,  $387.15;  schools,  $3,142.91,  and  county  taxes,  $5,007.83. 

The  population  of  Alexander,  by  the  census  of  1890  was,  whites, 
8,558;  colored,  842;  all  others,  3;  total,  9,403. 

ALLEGHANY. 

Alleghany  Count v  is  situated  on  the  A''irginia  border,  and  is  bounded 
southward  by  the  curves  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  In  its  middle  section  is  a 
parallel  and  higher  chain.  Its  entire  surface  is  drained  northward 
into  the  New  and  Kanawha  fiivers,  this,  with  the  two  following  coun- 
ties, constituting  the  New  River  plateau  or  basin,  the  only  part  of  the 
State  drained  by  the  Ohio.  It  lies  on  the  north-eastern  end  of  the  long, 
narrow,  elevated  transmontane  plateau,  and  has  an  average  elevation 
of  not  less  than  2,800  feet.  Its  forests  are  of  oak,  chestnut  and  pine, 
with  an  admixture  of  white  pine  in  the  coves  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and 
between  that  and  the  Peach  Bottom  range.  Its  soils  are  the  common 
gray  and  yellow  upland  loams.  Along  the  banks  of  the  New  River 
and  its  principal  tributaries,  especialh'  Little  River,  are  considerable 
tracts  of  bottom  lands.  Its  agriculture  is  divided  between  the  produc- 
tion of  grains  and  grasses  and  cattle-raising.  Its  products  of  buck- 
wheat and  rye  are  next  to  the  largest  in  the  State. 

It  is  a  region  well  suited  to  the  grasses,  and  the  industry  of  dairy 
farming,  its  elevation  assuring  a  temperate  but  not  a  cold  climate  in 
winter,  and  exemption  from  the  heats  of  summer.  The  number  of 
domestic  animals  is,  1,555  horses,  224  mules,  II  jacks  and  jennies,  8 
goats,  7,920  cattle,  5,743  hogs,  8,045  sheep. 

This  county  contains  139,078  acres  of  land,  with  a  valuation  of 
$355,451,  and  04  town  lots,  valued  at  $0,443. 

Receipts  for  taxation  are,  State,  $1,015.78  ;  pensions,  $250.54  ;  schools, 
$2,149.04;  county,  $2,984.73. 

Population  by  the  cen=us  of  1890,  white,  4,907;  colored,  519;  total, 
5,480. 


DESCRIPTION   OF   COUNTIES.  99 

ANSON. 

Anson  County  lies  on  the  southern  border  of  the  State,  and  is  bounded 
on  the  east  by  the  Pee  Dee  River.  About  one-third  of  its  territory,  in 
the  south-eastern  portion,  belongs  to  the  long-leaf  pine  belt,  with  its 
characteristic  soils  and  forests.  The  north-western  and  northern  sec- 
tions of  the  county  consist  of  slate  soils  (gray,  gravelly  clays),  occupied 
by  forests  of  oak,  short-leaf  pine,  hickory,  dogwood,  etc.  The  river  hills 
near  the  Pee  Dee  have  a  sandy  and  gravelly  loam,  becoming  more  red 
and  clayey  on  the  lower  slopes.  There  lies  across  the  middle,  in  a 
north-east  and  south-west  direction,  a  low,  nearly  level  tract,  five  or  six 
miles  wide,  of  brown,  yellow  and  gray  sandy  and  clay  loam  soils, 
derived  from  the  clays  and  sandstones  of  the  Trias.  These  lands  are 
naturally  quite  productive,  but  are  much  worn,  and  have  been  devoted 
mainly  to  the  culture  of  cotton,  which  is  the  most  important  industry 
of  the  count}^  although  the  corn  crops  are  quite  large.  For  many 
years  cotton  was  the  chief  agricultural  product  of  the  county,  being 
the  largest  producer  in  the  State,  and  the  quality  of  the  staple  ranking 
higher  than  that  of  any  upland  staple  produced  anywhere  in  the  cot- 
ton area  of  the  United  States.  Relatively,  the  product  now  is  less  than 
formerly,  partly  from  deterioration  of  soil,  and  partly  through  the  facili- 
ties afforded  by  the  construction  of  railroads  through  the  countv  for 
transportation,  thus  inducing  a  diversity  of  crops  and  industries.  By 
the  census  returns  of  1890  the  crop  of  1889  was  10,822  bales.  The 
county  is  traversed  from  east  to  west  b}^  the  Carolina  Central  Railroad, 
and  is  connected  with  Cheraw,  S.  C. ;  on  the  south  by  another  railroad 
of  a  length  of  twenty  miles.  On  the  Carolina  Central  lie  valuable  and 
exhaustless  quarries  of  brown  sandstone  of  superior  quality,  and  largely 
used  throughout  the  State  for  building  purposes. 

Wadesboro  is  the  county  seat,  on  the  Carolina  Central  Railroad,  and 
at  the  northern  terminus  of  the  Wadesboro  and  Cheraw  Railroad.  It 
has  a  population,  by  the  last  national  census,  of  1,198.  It  is  a  large 
interior  cotton  market,  the  annual  receipts  varying  from  15,000  to  20,000 
baits.  It  has  a  cotton  factory  and  a  silk-mill,  the  only  one  in  the  State, 
where  silk  yarns  are  converted  into  thread  for  Northern  silk-weaving 
establishments.  Near  the  town  are  noted  quarries  of  much  valued 
sandstone.  Polkton  has  a  population  of  247,  Lilesville  of  222,  and 
Morven  a  smaller  one. 

The  nature  of  the  soil,  and  also  the  attention  of  the  people  so  largely 
to  the  culture  of  cotton,  have  not  favored  the  increase  of  the  domestic 
animals.  The  number  in  3  890  was — horses,  1,055;  mules,  1,826;  jacks 
and  jennies,  5;  goats,  56;  hogs,  6,201  ;  sheep,  2,048. 


100  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

This  county  contains  322,098  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,095,993,  and 
416  town  lots,  valued  at  $207,183. 

Product  of  taxation— State,  $5,284  77;  pensions,  $752.07;  schools, 
$6,529.09;  county,  $6,613.25. 

Population— white,  10,237 ;  colored,  9,790;  all  others,  3;  total,  20,030. 

ASHE. 

Ashe  County  lies  in  the  north-western  corner  of  the  State,  adjoining 
the  States  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  its  south-eastern  edge  resting 
upon  the  summits  of  the  Blue  Ridge  mountain  chain.  It  is  very 
rugged  and  mountainous,  the  spurs  of  the  Smoky  Mountains  being 
thrust  out  almost  across  its  entire  territory  and  reaching  at  various 
points  an  elevation  of  nearly  5,000  feet,  giving  an  average  elevation  of 
3,500  feet  above  tide.  It  is  drained  by  the  two  forks  of  New  River, 
which  meet  in  its  north-east  corner.  Its  forests,  soils,  and  agriculture 
resemble  those  of  Alleghany  County.  Grass  and  cattle  count  for  much 
in  this  region,  and  rye  and  buckwheat  are  its  common  crops,  as  well  as 
of  Alleghany  and  the  whole  transmontane  plateau.  In  the  former 
(rye)  this  county  shows  the  largest  product  in  the  State,  and  in  the 
second  it  is  nearly  equal  to  the  best.  White  pine  and  hemlock,  as  well 
as  poplar,  sugar  maple,  wild  cherry,  and  walnut,  become  important 
constituents  of  the  forests  in  many  places.  Jefferson  is  the  county  seat, 
with  a  population  of  413. 

This  county  contains  227,174  acres,  valued  at  $742,160,  and  78  town 
lots,  valued  at  $190,275.  The  adaptation  of  the  natural  conditions  of 
this  county  to  pastoral  as  well  as  agricultural  industry,  is  shown  by 
the  following  statement  of  the  number  of  domestic  animals  in  1890: 
2,500  horses,  384  mules,  12  jacks  and  jennies,  47  goats,  12,840  cattle, 
7,460  hogs,  10,609  sheep. 

Taxes— State,  $3,297.21;  pensions,  $547.23;  school,  $5,160.65;  county, 
$5,534.27. 

Population — whites,  15,033 ;  colored,  595  ;  total,  15,628. 

BEAUFORT. 

Beaufort  County  lies  south  of  Washington  County,  on  both  sides  of 
the  Pamlico  River,  which,  in  this  part  of  its  course,  is  an  arm  of  the 
sound  of  the  same  name,  from  2  to  6  miles  wide,  and  throws  off  several 
wide  projections  or  bays  into  the  county  on  both  sides.  It  is  bounded 
on  the  east  by  Pungo  River,  another  broad  arm  of  Pamlico  Sound, 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  101 

whose  waters  also  penetrate  the  county  in  numerous  wide  navigable 
baj^ous.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the  county  is  occupied  by  swamp 
lands.  In  the  northern  section,  and  across  its  whole  breadth,  lies  the 
western  extremity  of  the  great  intersound  swamp,  which  attains  its 
greatest  elevation  here  of  40  feet  above  tide.  In  this  culminating  swell, 
between  the  Roanoke  and  Pamlico  Rivers,  rise  numerous  tributaries 
of  these  rivers  and  of  the  sounds.  The  central  portion  of  this  part  of 
the  swamp  belongs  to  that  class  of  soils  described  as  "pocoson,"  and  is 
of  very  low  fertility.  Along  the  courses  of  the  streams,  as  they  flow 
out  from  this  swell,  are  considerable  marginal  tracts  of  semi-swamp 
and  oak  flats,  which  are  very  productive.  There  are  also  belts  of 
cypress  swamp  near  Pamlico  River  and  the  other  streams  on  both  sides, 
and  south  of  the  swamp,  in  the  middle  as  well  as  along  the  western 
edge  of  the  county,  the  land  is  mostly  a  level  piny  woods,  with  a  light 
sandy  soil.  In  the  eastern  portion  of  the  count}^,  and  on  both  sides  of 
the  Pamlico  River,  both  along  the  banks  of  this  river  and  of  the  before- 
mentioned  projections,  are  large  tracts  of  oak  flats  and  semi-swamp, 
which  are  among  the  most  productive  soils  of  the  region.  Near  the 
mouth  of  Pungo  River  occurs  one  of  the  largest  prairies  or  natural 
meadows,  Savannas,  in  the  State,  embracing  an  area  of  1,200  or  1,500 
acres.  It  is  treeless  and  fringed  by  short-leaf  pine  and  oak  forests,  and 
has  a  fine,  close,  gra}'  sand\^  soil,  as  impervious  as  clay.  Its  subsoil  is 
of  the  same  character,  but  is  more  clayey,  and  is  of  a  slightly  yellowish 
color.     Marl  is  found  in  various  parts  of  the  county,  but  is  little  used. 

Fishing  is  an  industry  of  considerable  importance.  The  catch  of 
herrings  and  shad  is  second  only  in  importance  to  the  catch  in  the 
Albemarle  section.  Great  quantities  of  these  fish  are  shipped  fresh, 
packed  in  ice,  to  the  Northern  markets,  and  are  also  sent  into  the  inte- 
rior of  the  State.  The  same  conditions  exist  in  this  county  as  are 
found  in  other  counties  for  the  raising  of  cattle.  The  Scuppernong 
grape  and  all  of  its  varieties  are  indigenous.  The  celebrated  Meish 
grape,  named  in  honor  of  its  discoverer,  Mr.  Albert  Meish,  a  native  of 
Westphalia,  Germany,  had  its  origin  in  this  county.  The  business  of 
wine-making  can  be  carried  on  profitably. 

Beaufort  was  erected  into  a  separate  county  prior  to  1775,  and  named 
in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  one  of  the  original  Lord  Proprietors 
of  Carolina.  About  40  miles  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  150  miles 
from  Raleigh,  the  capital  of  the  State,  it  is  in  form  nearl}'-  a  quadri- 
lateral, bounded  on  the  north  by  the  counties  of  Martin  and  Washing- 
ton, east  by  Hyde  and  Pamlico,  south  by  Pamlico  and  Craven,  and 
West  by  Pitt. 


102  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

To  those  seeking  a  home,  there  is  no  more  important  factor  than  a 
good  healthy  climate.  In  this  particular  Beaufort  County  is  especially 
blest.  Its  location  is  such  that  it  is  never  affected  with  either  extreme 
heat  or  cold,  nor  with  sudden  changes.  In  the  winter  months  there 
are  a  few  cold  spells,  lasting  from  two  days  to  a  week,  and  during 
which  the  thermometer  shows  a  general  average  of  about  32°  Fahren- 
heit. These  cold  spells  soon  give  way  to  the  warm  exhilarating  sun- 
shine, and  the  thermometer  rises  again  to  its  normal  average  for  the 
winter,  which  is  between  50°  and  65°  Fahrenheit.  In  the  summer, 
while  we  of  course  have  our  hot  days,  as  do  all  other  places,  yet  the 
thermometer  seldom  records  a  temperature  of  over  90°  Fahrenheit  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  and  even  this  is  tempered  by  the  gentle  breezes 
which  come  from  the  broad  expanse  of  salt  water  to  the  east  of  us. 
The  general  average  for  the  summer  months  is  about  80°  Fahrenheit. 

Pamlico  River,  a  beautiful  stream,  which  varies  in  width  from  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  five  miles,  runs  through  the  county  from  about 
north-west  to  south-east,  and  empties  into  Pamlico  Sound  near  the 
eastern  extremity  of  the  county.  This  river  abounds  in  fish  of  the 
finest  kinds,  of  which  more  will  be  said  hereafter.  The  average  depth  of 
the  channel  of  the  river  from  its  mouth  to  the  western  line  of  the  count}^ 
is  about  ten  feet,  and  any  vessel  drawing  not  more  than  8  feet  loaded, 
can  easily  go  to  the  extreme  western  end  of  the  county  by  means  of 
the  river.  The  county  is  divided  by  it  nearly  into  equal  parts,  and, 
with  its  numerous  tributaries,  serves  a  most  useful  purpose  as  a  means 
of  getting  to  market  the  results  of  labor.  By  means  of  it  a  large  com- 
merce is  carried  on,  both  by  steam  and  sailing  vessels,  with  the  ports 
to  the  north,  and  some  foreign  commerce.  Its  banks  are  lined  with 
farms  and  steam-mills,  and  upon  its  placid  bosom  the  waterman  pur- 
sues his  vocation. 

The  swamp  lands  are  considered  to  be  among  the  best  in  the  world, 
being  equal  in  fertility  to  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Nile,  though,  unlike 
them,  not  depending  upon  an  annual  overflow  for  their  fertility  ;  or  the 
Mississippi  bottom  lands,  and,  unlike  them,  not  being  subject  to  inun- 
dation. These  lands  are,  in  all  cases,  found  at  the  head  of  the  numerous 
streams,  which  rise  in  the  county  and  feed  Pamlico  and  Pungo  Rivers. 

The  lands  are  higher  than  any  other  lands  in  the  county,  and  are 
shaped  like  an  immense  plate,  of  which  the  rim  is  the  highest  part. 
This  rim  serves  to  keep  a  certain  amount  of  water  in  the  centre,  which 
has  led  to  the  term  swamp  lands.  They  are  covered  with  the  forest- 
kinds  of  timber,  including  pine,  cypress,  white  cedar  or  juniper,  gum, 
some  oak,  maple,  beech  and  poplar. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  103 

These  lands  are  nearly  always  very  easily  drained,  and  when  drained 
are  the  easiest  lands  cleared  in  the  world — the  first  crop  of  corn  always 
paying  the  expenses  of  clearing,  leaving  the  timber,  which  has  been  cut 
from  the  land,  a  clear  profit.  The  method  of  clearing  the  land  is  to 
cut  it  down  clean  in  the  earl}^  fall  and  let  it  stay  until  spring,  when, 
during  a  dry  time,  it  is  burned  off  and  corn  planted,  which  will  produce 
fifty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  at  a  cost  of  not  over  two  dollars  to  cultivate. 

The  number  of  acres  in  this  county  is  353,363,  valued  at  $1,136,335. 

The  number  of  live  stock  is — horses,  1,391;  mules,  732;  jacks,  2; 
goats,  285;  cattle,  9,951 ;  hogs,  10,284;  sheep,  4,274. 

Population— white,  11,869;  colored,  9,203;  total,  21,072. 

Taxes— State,  ^7,322.47;  pensions,  $941.31 ;  schools,  $6,633.62  ;  county, 
$13,501.23. 

BERTIE. 

Bertie  County  lies  south, of  Hertford,  in  the  angle  between  Roanoke 
and  Chowan  Rivers,  and  consists,  for  the  most  part,  of  level  piny 
uplands,  having  a  sandy  loam  soil;  but  the  northern  part  of  it  is  largely 
pine  flats,  having  an  infertile  ash-colored  fine  sandy  soil.  The  south- 
ern part,  near  the  Roanoke  River,  and  along  its  chief  tributary,  the 
Cashie,  are  wide  tracts  of  level  oak  and  pine  lands,  which  are  very  pro- 
ductive. The  Roanoke  River,  through  almost  the  whole  length  of  this 
county,  is  bordered  by  a  tract  of  alluvial  lands  from  three  to  six  miles 
wide,  subject  to  annual  overflows,  and  covered  with  heav}^  forests  of 
cypress,  maple,  ash,  etc.,  which  are  among  the  most  fertile  of  the  con- 
tinent. In  the  middle  region,  on  and  near  the  Cashie  and  its  tributa- 
ries, are  considerable  bodies  of  valuable  sw^amp  and  semi-swamp  lands. 
Cotton,  corn,  potatoes,  fish  and  lumber  make  up  the  list  of  industries 
of  this  county.     Marl  is  found  in  the  southern  and  middle  sections. 

Windsor  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  522.  Lewiston  has 
a  population  of  373. 

The  number  of  acres  in  this  county  is  374,4-19,  valued  at  $1,449.34, 
and  283  town  lots,  valued  at  $151,430. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is  1,811  horses,  1,044  mules,  3  jacks 
and  jennies,  157  goats,  9,027  cattle,  18,811  hogs,  5,360  sheep. 

The  product  of  taxation  is — general  taxes,  $6,880.25;  pensions,  $977.10; 
schools,  $11,821.81;  county,  $8,656.94. 

Population— white,  7,885;  colored,  11,291 ;  total,  19,176. 


104  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


BLADEN. 

Bladen  County  lies  south  of  Cumberland,  and,  like  it,  on  both  sides 
of  the  Cape  Fear  River.  It  has  narrow  zones  of  pine  barrens  running 
parallel  to  the  river  courses  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  county,  and 
it  also  abounds  in  cypress  swamps  and  alluvial  "bottoms"  along  its 
streams.  There  are  also  large  bodies  of  level  piny  woods.  Marl  is 
found  in  the  bluffs  of  the  river.  On  many  of  the  streams  are  exten- 
sive bodies  of  gum  and  cypress  swamps.  This  county  has  a  very  lim- 
ited agriculture,  the  chief  crop  being  corn;  and  very  little  cotton  is 
produced,  turpentine  and  lumber  being  still  among  the  chief  interests. 
On  the  western  side  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  the  lands  are  higher  and 
less  occupied  by  swamps  than  on  the  eastern,  but  there  are  fine  produc- 
tive lands  along  the  Cape  Fear — productive  in  corn,  but  exposed  to  the 
dangers  of  overflow.  The  eastern  side,  near  the  river,  has  good  bottom 
lands  extending  back  some  distance  from  the  river,  and  these  are  suc- 
<^eeded  towards  the  east  by  extensive  swamps  extending  along  the  mar- 
gins of  South  and  Black  Rivers,  and  including  the  large  area  of  Colley 
Swamp;  therefore  the  area  of  arable  land  is  relatively  small.  On  this 
side  are  found  a  number  of  small  lake=!.  Two  railroads  traverse  the 
county — the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley  on  the  east,  and  the  Caro- 
lina Central  on  the  west — which,  together  with  the  streams,  give  ample 
facilities  for  the  transportation  to  market  of  the  leading  products  of  the 
county — timber,  lumber  and  naval  stores.     Elizabeth  is  the  county  seat. 

The  number  of  acres  in  the  county  is  454,912,  valued  at  $1,006,929, 
and  101  town  lots,  valued  at  $23,375. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is — horses,  572;  mules,  784;  jacks, 
2;  goats,  595;  cattle,  8,289;  hogs,  20,700;  sheep,  4,734. 

The  product  of  taxation  is  —  general  taxes,  $4,072  38;  pensions, 
$654.43;  schools,  $5,407.53;  county,  $4,309.25. 

Population— white,  8,046;  colored,  8,117;  total,  16,703. 

BRUNSWICK. 

Brunswick  County  lies  on  the  west  side  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and 
touches  the  Atlantic  on  the  south.  Its  central  and  western  jiortion  is 
occupied  by  the  great  pocoson  known  as  Green  Swamp,  which,  with  its 
many  projections,  covers  nearly  half  the  territory  of  the  county.  This 
swamp  is  bordered  by  wide  tracts  of  canebrakes,  and  contains  extensive 
areas  of  gum,  cypress  and  juniper  swamps,  which  have  been  for  half  a 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  105 

century  the  center  of  a  large  lumber  trade.  The  various  streams  which 
flow  from  this  swamp  to  all  points  of  the  compass  are  bordered  by  oak 
flats,  tracts  of  semi-swamp,  and  often  by  canebrakes,  and  in  the  body 
of  it  are  numerous  hummocks  or  flat  ridges  having  a  silty  soil  and  a 
growth  of  short-leaf  pine  and  small  oaks.  Between  the  arms  of  the 
swamp,  on  the  narrow  divides,  and  particularly  in  the  southern  portion 
of  the  county,  near  the  seashore,  are  patches  of  long-leaf  pine  lands 
with  sandy  soils,  and  elsewhere  of  level  pin}'  woods,  valuable  fur  lumber 
and  naval  stores.  Along  the  Cape  Fear  are  large  bodies  of  alluvial 
lands  of  unsurpassed  fertility,  which  are  among  the  best  rice  soils  in 
this  country.  Waccamaw  Lake  occupies  the  highest  part  of  Green 
Swamp,  and  covers  an  area  of  about  forty  square  miles.  Naval  stores 
and  lumber  are,  of  course,  the  principal  interests,  agriculture  being  of 
subordinate  importance  and  limited  mainly  to  the  cultivation  of  rice, 
of  which  its  product  is  more  than  double  that  of  any  other  county  in 
the  State. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  lies  the  town  of  Southport, 
once  called  Smithville  in  honor  of  one  of  the  former  Governors  of 
North  Carolina,  whose  name  is  imperishably  associated  with  the  des- 
tinies of  the  University,  but  who  is  forgotten  in  that  spirit  of  innova- 
tion which  neither  reverences  the  past  nor  respects  the  present.  This 
port  offers  a  fine  harbor,  used  at  present  as  an  incoming  or  an  outgoing 
stopping  point  for  vessels  inward  or  outward  bound,  in  connection  with 
Wilmington,  and  also  as  a  refuge  fur  vessels  in  distress,  now  much 
utilized  by  reason  of  the  increased  depth  of  water  on  the  bar.  It  is 
destined  to  be  a  very  important  coaling  port,  lying  on  the  path  of  both 
north-  and  south-bound  vessels,  to  which  object  great  facilities  will  soon 
be  added  by  the  completion  of  a  road  into  the  interior,  lately  begun, 
and  to  be  connected  with  the  coal-fields.  Southport  is  the  county-seat, 
with  a  population  of  1,207. 

The  number  of  acres  of  land  in  the  county  is  410,655,  valued  at 
$527,460;  and  225  town  lots,  valued  at  $121,565. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is— horses,  345;  mules,  199;  goats, 
711;  cattle,  8,279;  hogs,  16,447;  sheep,  593. 

Proceeds  of  taxation— State,  $2,680;  pensions,  $403.93;  school,  $4,861; 
county,  $2,931.40. 

Population— white,  6,139;  colore!,  4,767;  total,  10,900. 


106  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


BUNCOMBE. 

Buncombe  County,  once  so  ample  in  its  area  as  to  receive,  and  almost 
merit,  the  title  of  the  ''State  of  Buncombe,"  is  now  much  reduced  in 
extent,  and  is  no  larger  than  many  of  the  counties  of  which  it  is  the 
parent.  Its  eastern  boundary  follows  the  line  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  its 
crests  forming  the  dividing  line  between  McDowell  and  Buncombe. 
On  the  west  the  New  Found  range  marks  the  separation  from  Haywood 
County.  Madison  on  the  north,  and  Henderson  on  the  south,  have  no 
natural  boundaries,  the  lines  of  division  being  artificial. 

The  area  of  .the  county  is  620  miles.  The  acreage  is  341,542,  of 
which  99,602  acres  were  improved  at  the  time  of  the  census  of  1880. 
Nearly  the  whole  surface  is  susceptible  of  improvement;  for,  though 
the  mountains  predominate  as  natural  features,  there  are  few  without 
deep  soil  to  the  top,  and  much  of  the  best  pasture  land  and  a  large  por- 
tion of  land  now  used  for  the  culture  of  fine  yellow  tobacco  is  mountain 
side  or  mountain  top. 

Buncombe  County  is  bisected  by  the  French  Broad  River,  which, 
rising  in  Transylvania,  pursues  a  course  nearly  north,  and  passes  out 
of  the  State  into  Tennessee  at  Paint  Rock.  It  is  a  stream  of  consider- 
able volume  and  of  surprising  width  for  a  mountain  stream.  At  Ashe- 
ville  it  is  110  yards  wide,  and  little  less  than  that  for  twent}'  miles 
above.  Below,  the  character  of  the  stream  changes  and  the  width 
varies.  At  Asheville  the  rapids  begin ;  above  that  point  the  cur- 
rent is  gentle,  and  there  is  natural  navigation,  with  some  obstructions 
which  the  National  Government  has  partially  removed  up  to  Brevard, 
in  Transylvania,  a  distance  by  water  of  forty  miles.  The  water-power 
of  the  river  has  not  been  utilized.  Above  Asheville  there  is  none; 
below,  the  narrow  interval  between  the  river  and  the  cliffs  causes 
embarrassment  in  the  location  of  mill-sites.  The  Swannanoa  is  the 
only  other  river  in  the  county  of  any  importance — more  noted  for  its 
beauty  than  for  its  usefulness.  Numerous  small  streams  prove  much 
more  useful  in  their  applications  to  mills  and  machinery  than  the 
larger  bodies  of  water. 

The  valleys  of  Buncombe  County  are  narrow  and  limited  in  extent. 
The  general  surface  of  the  county  is  hilly  rather  than  mountainous, 
offering  facilities  for  agricultural  operations  largely  used,  though  the 
mountains  are  sufficiently  lofty  and  abundantly  numerous  to  give  a 
mountainous  character  to  the  landscape. 


tn 


K^' 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  107 

The  soil  of  Buncombe  is  fairly  fertile,  but  does  not  equal  that  of 
Haywood  or  Transylvania.  But  it  is  sufficiently  productive  in  all  the 
cereals,  the  grasses  and  fruits  of  the  temperate  zone.  Wheat  produces 
an  average  of  ten  bushels  to  the  acre.  Oats  yield  exuberantly;  corn 
thrives  and  produces  from  thirty  to  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre;  clover  and 
all  the  grasses  are  so  well  favored  by  soil  and  climate  as  to  appear 
indigenous.  The  fruits  find  a  congenial  home  here,  especially  the 
apple,  which,  in  size  and  flavor,  and  in  abundant,  healthy  yield,  are 
seldom  equaled.  The  Irish  potato  here  finds  a  favoring  soil  and  cli- 
mate, the  yield  being  great  and  of  superior  quality.  All  kinds  of  vege- 
tables grow  with  luxuriance,  and  the  cabbage  is  especially  noticeable 
for  size  and  good  qualit}^ 

The  timber  of  this  county  includes  all  the  varieties  known  in  the 
mountains — oak,  hickory,  walnut,  elm,  beech,  birch,  s^'camore,  maple, 
locust,  buckeye,  pine,  the  hemlock,  spruce  and  others,  with  an  under- 
growth of  chinquepin,  dogwood,  laurel,  kalmia,  azalea  and  other 
shrubb}'  trees. 

Among  the  products  of  the  count}'  is  tobacco,  the  one  which  has  most 
largely  and  most  rapidly  added  to  the  profits  of  agriculture.  It  has 
been  cultivated  as  a  general  crop  onl}'  within  the  past  twelve  years,  and 
the  soil  of  the  hills  down  the  French  Broad,  and  back  a  few  miles  from 
the  river,  seem  better  adapted  to  its  culture  than  the  southern  portion 
of  the  county,  where  few  planters  have  attempted  it.  The  quality  pro- 
duced is  almost  altogether  the  bright  j'ellow,  of  a  quality  that  com- 
mands prices  equal  to  those  obtained  for  the  tobacco  of  the  center  of 
North  Carolina.  The  culture  is  increased  under  growing  demand  and 
convenient  markets,  and  it  has  become  the  money  crop  of  a  greater  part 
of  the  count}'. 

Buncombe  County  is  traversed  by  three  railroads,  or  rather  by  three 
branches  of  the  same  road,  the  main  stem  of  the  Western  North  Caro- 
lina road  entering  the  county  from  the  mouth  of  the  Swannanoa  Tun- 
nel, and  dividing  at  Asheville  into  the  Paint  Rock  branch,  which  is 
43  miles  in  length,  and  the  Ducktown  or  Pigeon  River  branch,  finished 
to  Murphy,  a  distance  of  130  miles;  and  by  the  Asheville  and  Spartan- 
burg road  to  Spartanburg,  S.  C,  a  distance  of  70  miles. 

Asheville  is  the  county-seat,  a  city  containing  now  a  population  of 
upwards  of  12,000,  with  all  the  conveniences  of  a  city,  with  numerous 
fine  hotels  unsurpassed  in  the  South,  electric  and  gas  lighting,  electric 
railways,  waterworks,  sewerage,  improved  streets,  telephone  exchange, 
ice  factories,  etc.  Its  fame  as  a  health  and  pleasure  resort  extends  over 
the  continent. 


108  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Buncombe  County  contains  341,022  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $2,138,293; 
and  1,859  town  lots,  valued  at  ^2,960,712,  the  total  valuation  for  county 
and  town  and  other  property  listed  for  taxation  reaching  $7,624,918. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is — horses,  3,382;  mules,  2,320; 
jacks  and  jennies,  23;  goats,  20;  cattle,  14,231;  hogs,  11,161;  sheep, 
4,981. 

Taxes  — State,  $20,369.38;  pensions,  $2,708.12;  school,  $18,740  30; 
county,  $35,968.60. 

Population— white,  28,640;  colored,  6,626;  all  others,  11 :  total,  35,266. 

BURKE. 

Burke  County  lies  westward  of  Caldwell  on  both  sides  of  the  Catawba 
River,  which  traverses  its  middle  section  and  drains  its  entire  territory. 
Its  southern  flank  lies  upon  the  crests  of  the  South  Mountains,  which 
here  reach  an  elevation  of  over  3,000  feet  above  the  sea  and  send  off 
spurs  in  a  northerly  and  north-easterly  direction  almost  to  the  middle 
of  the  county.  The  northern  end  is  elevated  upon  two  of  the  most 
massive  spurs  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  Linville  and  Table  Rock,  which  here 
rise  to  an  elevation  of  nearly  4,000  feet;  and  from  this  are  thrust  out 
numerous  long  and  rugged  spurs  and  ridges  in  a  south-easterly  course. 
A  large  part  of  the  territory  of  this  county,  therefore,  is  mountainous, 
and  the  average  elevation  is  not  less  than  1,300  feet.  In  its  middle 
section  are  considerable  tracts  of  red-clay  soils,  with  forests  predomi- 
nantly of  oak,  hickory,  etc.,  while  the  remainder  of  the  county  is  char- 
acterized in  this  respect  by  mixed  forests  of  oak,  pine,  chestnut,  etc., 
with  white  pine  in  the  mountains  of  the  south  and  north.  The  river 
and  creek  bottoms  are  very  extensive  and  fertile,  and  have  light-colored 
clays,  loams,  and  sandy  soils.  In  the  middle  section,  on  both  sides  of 
the  river,  the  uplands  usually  have  a  red-clay  soil  and  oak  forests.  The 
other  parts  of  the  county  have  soils  of  a  lighter  color,  yellowish  to  gray 
loams,  and  forests  of  the  usual  mixed  character  of  the  region — oak,  pine, 
chestnut,  sourwood,  dogwood,  etc.  Placer  gold  mines  are  numerous  in 
the  South  Mountains,  and  there  are  several  vein  mines  on  the  north 
side  of  the  county.  Cotton  and  tobacco  have  been  added  to  the  list  of 
cultivated  crops  within  a  few  years,  but  grain  forms  the  chief  crop. 

The  diffusion  of  gold  through  this  county  is  remarkable.  It  is  found 
chiefly  on  the  south  side  of  the  line  of  the  Western  North  Carolina 
Railroad,  and  most  largely  among  the  South  Mountains,  on  its  spurs 
and  among  its  valleys.  The  gold  area  extends  into  the  adjoining 
county  of  Rutherford,  the  placer  workings  of  which  have  been  only 


DESCRIPTION    OF   COUNTIES.  109 

surpassed  in  profit  by  those  in  California,  and  at  one  time  the  resort  to 
them  was  as  large  and  tumultuous  as  ever  animated  the  immortal 
"  Forty-niue-ers."  The  quantity  of  gold  taken  here  between  1832  and 
1842  was  so  great,  and  the  needs  of  a  circulating  medium  for  the  con- 
venience of  miners  and  the  country  around,  that  the  General  Govern- 
ment authorized  the  issue,  by  Dr.  Bechtler,  of  Rutherford,  of  gold  pieces 
of  the  denominations  of  $1,  §2.50  and  $5,  pure  gold,  without  alloy  ;  and 
so  great  was  the  trust  reposed  in  the  knowledge  and  the  integrity  of 
the  coiner,  that  the  issue  of  this  private,  unique  mint,  passed  current 
without  question  throughout  the  Union. 

Morganton,  the  county  seat,  is  the  site  of  the  great  and  handsomely 
built  Western  Asylum  for  the  insane;  and  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  for  the  whites,  having  become  in  danger  of  being  overcrowded 
with  patients  with  the  growth  of  population,  the  Legislature  has  made 
provision  for  the  erection  of  another  institution  at  Morganton  for  the 
same  class  of  unfortunates,  to  be  known  as  "  The  North  Carolina  School 
for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb."  Here  also  is  a  cotton  factory  and  an  exten- 
sive steam  tannery,  one  of  the  largest  and  best  equipped  in  the  South. 
The  population  is  1,557.     Glen  Alpine  has  a  population  of  252. 

There  are  in  Burke  County  379,347  acres  of  land,  valued  at  §780,110, 
in  addition  to  the  value  of  312  town  lots  at  $146,977. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is — horses,  1,206;  mules,  1,196; 
jacks  and  jennies,  23 ;  goats,  21 ;  cattle,  6,093 ;  hogs,  8,012  ;  sheep,  2,646. 

Taxes— State,  $3,612.68;  pensions,  $553.92;  schools,  $4,995.48; 
county,  $11,506.25. 

Population— white,  12,378;  colored,  2,561  ;  total,  14,939. 

CABARRUS. 

Cabarrus  County  is  not  unlike  the  adjacent  counties  in  general  features, 
its  topographical  character  being  similar,  and  its  agricultural  products 
the  same.  It  is  drained  by  the  upper  waters  of  Rocky  River,  one  of  the 
chief  affluents  of  the  Yadkin,  and  abounds  in  water-courses,  which 
traverse  its  territory  from  north-west  to  south-east,  dividing  it  into  nar- 
row zones  or  flatfish  swells,  the  higher  parts  of  which  are  comparatively 
level  and  are  covered  with  a  growth  of  oaks  and  pines  and  have  a  char- 
acteristic gray  to  yellow  loam  soil,  while  along  the  borders  of  the 
streams  there  are  numerous  and  often  extensive  tracts  of  alluvial  bot- 
tom lands,  which,  as  well  as  large  tracts  of  red  clay  and  dark  gravelly 
loam  soils,  are  covered  with  heavy  forests  of  oak,  hickory,  walnut,  pop- 
lar, maple,  etc.     Along  the  eastern  margin  of  the  county  lies  a  narrow 


110  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

belt  of  a  few  miles  in  breadth  of  slate  hill-land,  in  the  forests  of  which 
the  short-leaf  pine  predominates.  The  soils  of  this  tract  are  much  less 
productive  than  the  average  of  the  county.  Cotton  enters  as  a  large 
element  into  the  agriculture  of  this  county,  and  divides  almost  equally 
the  attention  of  its  population. 

Cabarrus  was  early  famed  for  the  discovery  within  its  territory  of 
the  largest  mass  of  pure  gold  ever  found  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
United  States.  The  search  for  that  metal  was  continued  for  many  years 
with  great  success  by  placer  mining,  and  is  still  continued  in  that  form 
and  also  by  vein  mining. 

Concord,  the  county  seat,  on  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad, 
is  a  thriving  town  with  a  population  of  4,339,  and  contains  cotton 
mills  and  other  manufacturing  establishments.  Mount  Pleasant  has  a 
population  of  375. 

The  county  contains  223,034  acres  of  laud,  valued  at  ^1,565,292,  and 
563  town  lots,  valued  at  $284,245. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is — horses,  2,129;  mules,  1,001; 
jacks  and  jennies,  11 ;  goats,  33  ;  cattle,  6,370  ;  hogs,  8,236;  sheep,  2,716. 

Taxes  produce  for  State  purposes,  $8,142.47;  pensions,  $1,105.17; 
schools,  $9,069.43  ;  county  $10,021.75. 

Population— white,  12,863;  colored,  5,459  ;  total,  18,142. 

CALDWELL. 

Caldwell  County  lies  upon  the  flanks  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  extends 
southward  beyond  the  Brushy  Mountains,  a  smaller  and  parallel  range 
2,000  feet  and  more  in  altitude.  It  is  drained  by  the  upper  tributaries 
of  the  Catawba  River  and  of  the  Yadkin,  the  larger  of  which  rise  in  the 
summits  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  its  culminating  region  in  Grandfather 
Mountain,  which  touches  the  elevation  of  nearly  6,000  feet  above  the 
sea.  This  mountain  throws  off  a  number  of  long,  heavy  spurs  down 
to  the  middle  of  the  county,  and  is  traversed  midway,  in  a  direction 
parallel  to  the  other  two  chains,  by  the  Warrior  Mountains,  so  that  its 
surface  is  for  the  most  part  quite  broken  and  rugged;  but  the  different 
chains  are  separated  by  extensive  open  valleys,  and  there  is  a  great  area 
of  river  and  creek  bottoms.  The  lands  in  the  middle  and  southern 
sections  generally  have  a  red-clay  or  yellow  sandy  loam  soil  of  more 
than  medium  fertility,  while  its  higher  regions  on  the  ridgos  and  spurs 
of  the  mountains  are  frequently  slaty  ledges,  with  gray  sandy  and 
gravelly  soils  of  medium  to  low  quality.  Its  forests  are  predominantly 
of  oak  in  the  middle  section,  and  of  pine  and  oak  in  the  southern  and 


w 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  Ill 

northern — that  is,  in  the  more  mountainous  regions,  while,  in  the  latter 
section,  white  pine,  hemlock  and  chestnut  constitute  a  considerable  ele- 
ment of  the  forest  growth.  The  chief  crops  are  grain,  but  tobacco  cul- 
ture has  been  recently  introduced,  and  for  a  few  years  past  a  few  bales 
of  cotton  have  been  raised  in  an  experimental  way. 

Through  the  northern  part  of  this  county  run  the  Yadkin  River  and 
some  of  its  upper  tributaries,  along  which  lie  that  beautiful  system  of 
broad  and  fertile  valleys  which  so  early  in  the  history  of  this  section 
of  the  State  attracted  settlement,  the  immigration  being  marked  b}^  the 
preponderance  of  brave,  energetic  men,  able  to  secure  their  hold  against 
the  resistance  of  the  Indians,  as  well  as  to  subdue  the  forces  of  nature, 
resulting  in  that  lengthened  period  of  repose  and  the  reduction  of  the 
valleys  to  that  finish  of  culture  and  stage  of  refinement  which  they 
now  present  to  the  eye.  The  Valley  of  the  Yadkin  is  conspicuous 
through  its  entire  length  for  its  beauty,  fertility  and  productiveness. 

Lenoir  is  the  county  seat,  a  pretty  village  of  675  people,  and  long 
noted  as  an  educational  centre.  It  is  the  terminus  of  the  Chester  and 
Lenoir  Narrow  Gauge  Railroad,  connecting  at  Hickory  with  the  Western 
North  Carolina  Railroad. 

The  number  of  acres  of  land  is  334,271,  valued  at  $853,278;  and  205 
town  lots,  valued  at  $76,343. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is — horses,  1,208;  mules,  972;  jacks 
and  jennies,  39;  cattle,  6,804;  goats,  19;  hogs,  10,086;  sheep,  3,224. 

Taxation  yields— for  State  purposes,  $3,915.30;  pensions,  $578.15; 
schools,  $4,270;  county  purposes,  $4,536.46. 

Population — white,  10,737;  colored,  1,561;  total,  12,318. 

CAMDEN. 

Camden  County  is  a  long  narrow  strip  of  territory,  parallel  to  Cur- 
rituck. Northwestward  it  reaches  the  Dismal  Swamp,  and  southward 
Albemarle  Sound,  and  lies  between  two  of  its  projecting  arras,  Pasquo- 
tank River  and  North  River.  The  northern  and  larger  portion  of  this 
county  belongs  to  the  description  of  semi- swamp  or  oak  flats,  and  along 
the  main  rivers,  and  frequently  for  a  mile  or  two  from  their  margins, 
are  gum  and  cj'press  swamps.  At  a  distance  from  the  streams  tliese 
lands,  as  in  the  preceding  county,  are  characterized  by  a  heavy  growth 
of  oak,  hickory,  short-leaf  pine,  etc.  The  middle  portion  of  the  south- 
ern end  of  this  county,  along  the  divide  between  its  two  bounding 
water-courses,  has  a  narrow  zone  of  sandy  loam  soil,  with  long-leaf  pine 
forests.     The  main  crops  are  corn  and  cotton,  with  some  small  grains; 


112  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

but  fishing  and  truck-farming  are  also  among  the  common  and  profit- 
able industries,  and  several  thousand  bushels  of  flax-seed  are  annually 
exported.  Shipments  are  made  to  Norfolk  by  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal 
and  by  rail. 

The  county  contains  118,235  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $330,444;  and 
65  town  lots,  valued  at  $21,155. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is — horses,  934;  mules,  297;  jacks, 
2;  goats,  27;  hogs,  7,765;  cattle,  3,268;  sheep,  1,328. 

Taxation  produces — for  state  purposes,  $1,467.89;  pensions,  $229.91 ; 
schools,  $3,421.32 ;  county,  $2,903.15. 

Population— white,  3,347  ;  colored,  2,320 ;  total,  5,567. 

CARTERET. 

Carteret  Count}'  occupies  a  long  strip  of  country  south  of  Craven 
County  and  of  Pamlico  Sound,  and  is  bounded  southward  by  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  It  is  traversed  east  and  west  through  the  middle  by  a 
succession  of  swamps,  the  largest  of  which,  occupying  its  eastern  penin- 
sular projection,  is  called  the  Open  Ground  Prairie  Swamp.  This  is  a 
peat  swamp,  quite  barren  in  its  middle  parts,  but  fringed  around  its 
margin  with  oak  flats  and  gray  silty  soil.  There  is  also  a  line  of  sand 
islands  (sand  dunes)  along  the  coast,  and  inland,  parallel  to  the  coast, 
are  several  ridges  of  long-leaf  pine  sandy  lands.  The  highest  part  of 
the  county  is  only  37  feet  above  tide.  Carteret  has  the  advantage  of 
the  best  harbor  on  the  coast  of  this  State. 

This  county  lies  immediately  on  the  sea  coast;  its  general  direction 
is  east  and  west  or  nearly  so.  It  is  protected  from  the  ocean  by  narrow 
strips  of  beach  and  sand  hills,  that  are  known  as  the  banks.  Between 
these  banks  are  two  narrow  sounds,  navigable  for  small  vessels,  known 
as  Core  Sound  and  Bogue  Sound.  There  are  several  navigable  creeks 
emptying  into  these  sounds,  giving  facilities  to  farmers  for  the  shipment 
of  their  crops.  The  soil  is  generally  light  and  sandy,  and  will  produce 
all  of  the  cereals  and  cotton,  also  melons  of  very  large  size  and  of  exqui- 
site flavor ;  also  sweet  potatoes,  Irish  potatoes,  and  all  kinds  of  vegeta- 
bles.    The  season  is  very  early,  owing  to  the  proximity  of  the  ocean. 

The  Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  Railroad  terminates  at  Morehead 
City,  which  lies  immediately  on  Beaufort  harbor;  the  waters  are  of 
sufiicient  depth  to  admit  vessels  of  very  large  size.  On  the  bar  there 
are  twenty  feet  of  water  at  mean  tide.  In  this  county,  on  the  strips  of 
land  called  the  Banks,  are  droves  of  wild  hardy  horses,  known  as  bank 
ponies.     These  animals,  though  small,  make  very  efficient  farm  horses. 


'  DKSt'HIPTION    OF    COUNTIKS.  113 

There  is  another  industry,  that  with  suitable  appliances,  could  be 
carried  on  very  profitably  by  the  people  of  Carteret  County  ;  the  indus- 
try is  whaling.  At  certain  seasons  these  huge  monsters  of  the  deep 
visit  the  shores  of  North  Carolina,  and  are  frequently  seen  in  large 
schools.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  coast  of  North  Carolina 
was  a  famous  cruising  ground  for  the  New  England  whaler.  An  early 
writer  says,  that  the  whale  fishery  then  carried  on  by  the  New  Eng- 
lander  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina  yielded  annually  from  eleven  to 
thirteen  hundred  tons  of  oil,  and  that  he  had  seen  three  whale  ships  at 
one  time  in  the  Cape  Fear. 

Beaufort  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  2,845,  including  the 
township  ;  and  Morehead  City,  the  terminus  of  the  Atlantic  and  North 
Carolina  Railroad,  has  a  population  of  1,140. 

The  number  of  acres  of  land  in  the  county  is  162,700,  valued  at 
$294,342,  and  1,478  town  lots,  valued  at  ^329,842. 

Number  of  domestic  animals— horses,  1,247;  mules,  70;  goats,  135; 
cattle,  G,8GG  ;  hogs,  9,304  ;  sheep,  2,310. 

Taxes  produce  for  State  purposes,  $2,366.55 ;  pensions,  $346.45  ; 
schools,  $3,755.91  ;  county  taxes,  $3,204.16. 

Population — white,  8,528;  colored,  2,297  ;  all  others,  1 ;  total,  10,825. 

CASWELL. 

Caswell  Count}^  has  a  somewhat  thin  gravelly  soil,  though  with 
rich  bottoms  along  Dan  River,  which  flows  along  and  through  its 
northern  border  and  along  Country  Line  and  Hyco  Creeks.  The  larger 
part  of  its  territory  is  devoted  to  the  production  of  bright  yellow  tobacco, 
while  grain  crops  occupy  a  comparatively  subordinate  position,  and 
are  produced  principally  along  the  river  and  creek  bottoms  which 
abound  in  the  northern  and  eastern  sections  of  this  county.  The  north- 
eastern section  consists  largely  of  red  clay  lands,  with  oak  and  hickory 
forests,  while  the  lighter  tobacco  soils  occupy  most  of  the  southern  and 
western  portions.  Caswell  ranks  third  among  the  tobacco  counties  in 
aggregate  product.  The  crop  of  1889,  by  the  census  returns  of  1889, 
was  2,510,699  pounds. 

It  has  only  a  few  urban  settlements,  the  population  being  distributed 
on  their  farms,  well  cultivated  and  largely  adorned  with  handsome  and 
commodious  houses.  Yanceyville  is  the  county  seat,  noted  for  its  ele- 
gant court-house.     Its  population  is  small. 

Caswell  County  contains  248,256  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,163,676, 
and  286  town  lots,  valued  at  $118,676.  . 


114  HAND-BOOK    OF    XORTH    CAROLINA, 

Of  domestic  animals  it  has,  horses,  1,563;  mules,  917;  goats,  1; 
cattle,  3,101;  hogs,  6,135;  sheep,  1,523. 

Taxes  yield  for  State  purposes,  $5,761.76  ;  pensions,  §746.78  ;  schools, 
$6,250  ;  county,  $7,722.47. 

Population— white,  6,639  ;  colored,  9,389  ;  total,  16,028. 

CATAWBA. 

Catawba  County  lies  on  the  northern  border  of  the  cotton  belt  and 
on  the  margin  of  the  Piedmont  division  of  the  State.  It  is  bounded 
northward  and  eastward  by  the  Catawba  River,  and  has  its  western 
end  on  the  foot-hills  of  the  South  Mountains.  As  to  its  middle,  south- 
ern and  eastern  parts,  it  resembles  the  county  of  Iredell,  from  which  it 
is  separated  by  the  Catawba  River.  Through  tjie  middle  region  of  it, 
and  in  a  north-east  and  south-west  direction,  is  a  broad  belt  of  oak  and 
hickory  forest  with  a  red  clay  soil,  while  that  of  the  western  section  is 
a  light  to  yellow  sandy  loam.  The  streams  of  this  county,  all  of  which 
flow  into  the  Catawba,  are  occasionally  bordered  by  considerable  tracts 
of  alluvial  lands,  and  along  the  course  of  the  Catawba  are  extensive 
bottoms.  These  and  the  red  lands  of  the  county  are  very  productive. 
In  the  south-eastern  corner,  as  well  as  along  the  north-western  border, 
are  mountain  spurs  which  rise  to  an  elevation  of  1,500  feet  and  more 
above  sea-level.  A  broad  flattish  plateau  crosses  the  county  in  a  north- 
west and  south-east  direction  between  these  mountain  spurs,  which,  for 
the  most  part,  is  characterized  by  sandy  and  gravelly  loams,  and  its 
oak  forests  are  intermingled  with  much  pine. 

The  culture  of  cotton  has  been  introduced  into  the  county  since  1870, 
and  has  become  the  money  crop.  The  larger  part  of  its  territory  is 
still  devoted  to  grain,  of  which  more  than  half  a  million  bushels  are 
produced.  Tobacco  has  been  added  to  the  list  of  its  products  within  a 
few  years,  nearly  half  of  the  county  being  well  adapted  to  the  better 
grades  of  this  crop. 

This  county  was  largely  settled  by  immigrants  of  German  origin, 
who  retain  unimpaired,  their  thrift,  industry  and  skill,  both  as  farmers 
and  in  mechanical  industries.  Few  counties  in  the  State  are  better 
cultivated  and  made  more  productive.  It  is  traversed  by  the  western 
division  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad,  and  also  by  the 
Chester  and  Lenoir  Narrow  Gauge  Railroad. 

Newton  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population,  including  the  adjacent 
villages  of  Conover,  with  337,  Maiden  2<)4,  and  Newton  1,096,  of  3,033. 
Catawba  296,  and  Hickory  2,023.     This  is  the  most  important  business 


DESCKIPTION   OF    COUNTIES.  115 

town  in  the  county,  containing  a  large  wagon  factory,  wood-works, 
good  hotels,  schools,  churches,  &c.  In  the  county,  eight  miles  distant, 
are  the  famous  Catawba  Springs. 

The  county  contains  261,479  acres  of  land,  887  town  lots,  valued  at 
$340,001. 

Domestic  animals — horses,  1,923;  mules,  1,471;  jacks  and  jennies, 
18;  goats,  68  ;  cattle,  7,434 ;  hogs,  10,775  ;  sheep,  4,094. 

Proceeds  of  taxation — for  State  purposes,  $7,488  ;  pensions,  $1,023.19  ; 
schools,  $8,363;  county,  $7,631.43. 

Population— white,  16,073;  colored,  2,616 ;  total,  18,689. 

CHATHAM. 

Chatham  County  lies  contiguous  to  the  long-leaf  pine  belt,  and 
includes  a  small  strip  of  it  along  the  southern  edge.  It  is  drained  by 
the  waters  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  the  main  affluents  of  which  unite 
near  its  south-east  corner.  The  principal  of  these.  Deep  River,  has,  on 
both  sides,  extensive  bottom  lands,  covered  with  oak  and  short-leaf  pine 
forests,  which  are  very  productive.  A  large  part  of  its  surface  is  hilh- 
and  broken,  especially  near  the  rivers,  and  in  the  middle  and  north- 
eastern sections  these  hills  rise  to  an  elevation  of  from  600  to  700  feet 
above  the  sea,  attaining,  in  a  few  cases,  the  elevation  and  designation 
of  small  mountains.  The  average  elevation  is  500  feet.  The  soils  are, 
for  the  most  part,  those  of  the  oak  uplands,  generally  sandy  gray  to 
yellowish  loams,  alternating  here  and  there  with  belts  of  red-clay  soil. 
Toward  the  southern  border  occur  the  sandy  and  gravelly  oak  and 
pine  hills.  With  the  exceptions  noted,  the  forests  consist  mostly  of 
oak,  hickory,  etc.  Along  the  eastern  margin  of  the  county  is  a  wide, 
level  tract  of  oak  and  pine  lands,  with  a  gray  clay  loam  soil  of  Triassic 
origin.  Only  a  minor  portion  of  Chatham,  in  the  southern  and  east- 
ern parts,  is  devoted  to  the  culture  of  cotton,  grain  crops  constituting  its 
predominant  agricultural  interest.  The  tobacco  crop  for  1889  is  given 
as  345,466  pounds.  Its  facilities  for  manufacturing  are  unsurpassed. 
Two  large  and  two  other  considerable  rivers  cross  its  territory,  with  a 
fall  of  from  300  to  400  feet,  and  develop  a  force  of  more  than  40,000 
horse-power.  The  rivers  provide  only  meagre  facilities  for  navigation, 
but  this  defect  is  supplied  by  the  Raleigh  and  Augusta  Air-Line  Rail- 
road, which  passes  through  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  and  which 
connects  Pittsboro,  the  county  seat,  by  a  branch  road  of  twelve  miles, 
with  Moncure.  The  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley  road  runs  through 
the  whole  western  end  of  the  county,  and  its  construction  has  stimu- 


116  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

lated  the  growth  of  immerous  villages,  such  as  Egypt,  Gulf,  Ore  Hill, 
Siler  City  and  others,  all  of  which  have  become  centers  of  industrial 
pursuits,  and  also  of  good  schools.  At  Egypt  is  a  coal  mine,  the  most 
extensive  in  the  State,  opened  before  the  war,  and  now  again  operated 
with  success.  The  coal  is  bituminous.  At  Ore  Hill  is  a  very  valuable 
iron  mine,  worked  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  again  during 
the  late  Civil  war,  and  is  now  to  be  largely  utilized  in  connection  with 
the  steel  works  in  process  of  erection  at  Greensboro. 

Pittsboro  is  the  count}'  seat.  Its  population  was  not  returned  sepa- 
rate from  that  of  the  township.  Combined,  it  washy  the  census  of  1890, 
2,242.     Siler  City  has  254. 

The  total  number  of  acres  in  the  county  is  408,184,  the  value  of 
which  is  $1,850,857,  and  there  are  638  town  lo;s,  valued  at  ^94,912. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  2,7(36  horses,  2,424  mules,  23  jacks  and 
jennies,  859  goats,  14,141  cattle,  26,879  hogs,  18,207  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation— State,  $8,048.40;  pensions,  $1,203.05;  schools, 
$9,664.29;  county,  $12,186.03. 

Population— white,  17,214;  colored,  8,199  ;  total,  25,413. 

CHEROKEE. 

Cherokee  County  occupies  the  extreme  western  corner  of  the  State,  of 
w'hich  it  includes  the  whole  breadth,  at  this  point  less  than  20  miles. 
It  is  bounded  in  part  on  the  north  by  the  Smoky  Mountains,  and 
touches  the  States  of  Tennessee  and  Georgia  on  the  west  and  south. 
The  valley  of  the  Valley  River  is  open  and  comparatively  level,  with 
extensive  bottoms  and  bordering  hilly  lands.  This  valley  is  nearly  20 
miles  long  and  from  3  to  5  miles  broad,  and  contains  a  large  propor- 
tion of  fine  agricultural  lands.  Its  agriculture  is  divided  between  the 
culture  of  grains  and  grasses  and  cattle-raising,  and  mines  of  gold,  iron 
and  soapstone  have  been  open  and  wrought  for  many  years.  The 
iron-ore  deposits  are  of  great  extent,  and  there  is  a  great  variety  of 
colored  marble  on  Valley  and  Nantahala  Rivers  which  needs  only 
means  of  transportation  to  become  valuable. 

The  timbered  land  amounts  to  at  least  twelve-thirteenths  of  the  entire 
area  and  is  covered  generally  with  a  heavy  growth  of  almost  all  the 
varieties  of  the  oak  except  the  live  oak,  interspersed  with  white  and 
scaly  bark  hickory;  tulip  or  (poplar)  of  two  varieties,  cucumber  and 
wahoo,  white  ash,  wild  cherry  (black  and  bird  cherry),  black  and  white 
walnut,  black  and  sweet  gum,  red,  white,  mountain  and  ash-leaved 
maples,  persimmon,  dogwood,  chestnut  and  chinquapin,  red,  yellow 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  117 

and  black  bircli,  sassafras,  white,  yellow  and  black  pines,  hemlock  (or 
spruce  pine),  linn  or  lime,  snowdrop  tree,  black,  yellow  and  honey  locust, 
yellow  wood  {Cladastis  tindoria),  crab  apple,  service,  hornbeam  and 
ironwood,  sycamore,  etc.  Tortions  of  Cherokee,  Graham,  Swain  and 
Macon  Counties  contain  very  large  quantities  of  chestnut  oak  as  well  as 
hemlock,  and  can  thus  furnish  the  materials  for  the  largest  tanning 
operations,  as  the  climate  and  waters  are  so  mild  and  pure  as  to  offer 
great  inducements  in  this  line  as  soon  as  the  railroads  are  completed 
to  this  section. 

Besides  the  valley  of  Valley  River  already  named,  the  valley  of  the 
Hiawassee  and  Nottely  Rivers,  of  Peach  Tree,  Brass  Town  and  other 
creeks,  extend  an  area  of  fertile  and  level  arable  lands  found  to  wider 
extent  than  elsewhere  in  the  mountains,  the  recession  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
into  north  Georgia  permitting  a  large  area  of  lands,  hilly  but  not  moun- 
tainous, together  with  the  valleys,  offering  with  favorable  climate  and 
fertile  soil  every  encouragement  to  agricultural  pursuits. 

In  minerals  this  county  is  exceedingly  prolific.  Gold  is  found  in 
numerous  localities  and  has  amply  rewarded  research.  Iron  in  abund- 
ance and  of  superior  quality  is  of  such  quantity  and  value  as  long  since 
to  have  attracted  industry  and  capital;  marble  of  all  colors  and  varie- 
ties underlays  many  sections,  and  is  worked  to  advantage;  talc  or 
soapstone  is  found  in  great  abundance  and  of  peculiar  excellence,  and 
the  quarries  in  Nottely  River  have  long  furnished  exhaustless  supplies 
to  a  Georgia  Company.  Manganese  is  found  abundantly  in  addition 
to  other  minerals. 

The  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad  is  now  completed  to  Murphy, 
and  the  North  Georgia  and  Marietta  road  connects  that  town  with 
Atlanta.  With  the  addition  of  these  facilities  to  access  and  transporta- 
tion, capital  has  already  been  attracted  to  the  county,  and  the  rich 
resources  of  the  county  promise  early  development. 

Murphy,  the  county  seat,  is  reportei  with  a  population  of  803. 

There  are  324,583  acres  of  land  in  the  county,  valued  at  ^871,884, 
and  207  town  lots,  valued  at  $134,521. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is— horses,  1,055;  mules,  522; 
jacks,  11;  goats,  34;  cattle,  8,052 ;  hogs,  9,516 ;  sheep,  6,910. 

Products  of  taxation — State,  $359.45;  pensions,  $504.47;  schools, 
$3,785.33;  county,  $8,147.30. 

Population — white,  9,655;  colored,  321  ;  others  (Indians),  48;  total, 
10,124. 


118  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


CHOWAN. 

Chowan  County  lies  in  the  angle  of  the  Chowan  River  and  Albe- 
marle Sound.  Northward  it  consists  of  sandy,  upland  piny  woods, 
except  narrow  tracts  along  the  river  and  some  of  its  tributaries,  where 
cypress  swamps  of  considerable  extent  are  found;  and  there  are  also 
large  areas  of  oak  flats.  The  southern  portion  of  the  county,  lying  near 
the  sound  and  south  of  the  Yeopim  River,  is  characterized  by  a  gray 
clay-loam  soil  and  a  mixed  oak  and  pine  forest  growth,  and  is  for  the 
most  part  very  productive.  Bear  Swamp,  which  crosses  the  county  in 
a  north-east  and  south-west  direction,  is  more  properly  a  semi-swamp 
from  3  to  5  miles  wide,  very  level,  with  a  gray  silty  soil,  and  the  char- 
acteristic growth  of  such  lands  comprises  short-leaf  pine,  oaks,  maple, 
ash,  dogwood,  occasionally  C3'press  and  gum,  and  frequently  a  large 
admixture  of  holly,  which  here  attains  the  size  of  oaks  and  furnishes  a 
superior  cabinet  wood.  Its  fisheries  are  among  the  largest  and  most 
profitable  in  the  country.  Being  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  navi- 
gable waters  and  crossed  by  a  line  of  railway,  the  county  has  abundant 
means  of  transportation. 

The  fisheries  referred  to  are  probably  the  largest  and  most  profitable 
in  the  section  devoted  to  that  industry,  lying  along  the  shores  of  Albe- 
marle Sound  and  the  lower  waters  of  Chowan  River.  The  seine  fish- 
eries engage  much  capital  and  numerous  hands ;  the  seines,  including 
the  handling  ropes,  are  upwards  of  two  miles  in  length,  and  are  drawn 
into  the  shore  by  steam  power.  The  fishing  season  begins  in  February 
and  continues  until  early  in  May.  The  principal  catch  is  shad,  now 
chiefly  packed  in  ice  and  sent  fresh  to  the  Northern  markets  ;  herring, 
caught  in  immense  numbers,  often  from  60,000  to  100,000  in  one  haul, 
largely  shipped  fresh  on  ice,  but  mostly  salted  and  packed  in  barrels; 
rock  fish,  sturgeon,  perch  and  other  fish. 

Edenton,  the  county  seat,  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  North  Caro- 
lina, prettily  situated  on  Edenton  Bay,  and  has  the  benefit  of  water  and 
railroad  transportation,  by  the  latter  with  Elizabeth  City  and  Norfolk, 
and  by  the  former  with  the  navigation  of  the  sound  and  other  waters 
of  the  State. 

These  facilities  have  greatly  stimulated  the  business  of  truck  farming, 
to  which  both  soil  and  climate  invite.  The  pojnilation  of  Edenton  is 
given  as  2,025. 

The  county  contains  95,032  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $463,442,  and 
445  town  lots,  valued  at  $250,754. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  119 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  881  ;  mules,  454;  goats,  133; 
cattle,  2,457  ;  hogs,  8,067  ;  sheep,  582. 

Proceeds  of  taxation,  for  State,  §3,103.70  ;  pensions,  $426.77  ;  schools, 
$4,578.55;  county,  $3,541.85. 

Population — white,  4,010;  colored,  5,157 ;  total,  9,167. 

CLAY. 

The  small  county  of  Clay,  lying  on  the  southern  border,  touches  the 
State  of  Georgia,  and  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  Macon  County,  which 
it  resembles  very  closely  in  all  its  features,  physical  and  agricultural, 
and  in  its  development.  It  is  drained  in  a  westerly  direction  by  the 
Hiwassee  River,  which  takes  its  rise  in  the  Blue  Ridge  in  Georgia.  Its 
eastern  section  lies  upon  the  high  plateau  of  the  upper  Nantahala  River, 
and  on  the  north  lies  the  chain  of  the  Koneteh  ]Mountains.  A  large 
part  of  its  territory  is  very  mountainous.  It  has  fine,  open  valley  lands 
on  the  river  and  its  tributaries.  Its  southern  section  is  hilly,  somewhat 
mountainous,  with  fair  agricultural  capabilities.  Both  gold  and  mica 
are  found,  but  have  not  been  mined  on  any  considerable  scale. 

The  county  is  finely  diversified  with  mountains  and  valleys.  Those 
bordering  on  the  Hiwassee,  alternately  broad  and  contracted,  are  very 
fertile;  those  on  the  Tusquittee  ecjually  productive,  though  not  so  exten- 
sive. The  broad  rolling  lands  on  the  south  along  the  Brasstown  and 
some  smaller  streams,  and  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Chestatoe 
and  other  spurs  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  are  well  adapted  to  wheat  and 
other  small  grains,  and  to  grass.  The  mountains  along  the  eastern 
and  north-eastern  sides  are  high  and  rugged,  forming  a  landscape  of 
great  picturesqueness.  The  soil  throughout  the  county  is  well  adapted 
to  gras',  and  hay  is  cured  in  large  quantities.  The  county  is  well 
adapted  to  stock-raising,  both  with  natural  and  artificial  pasturage,  and 
large  numbers  of  cattle  and  some  horses  and  mules  are  annually  driven 
to  market.  The  lands  are  Avell  tilled,  and  the  number  of  improved 
implements  for  agriculture  exceeds  that  of  any  county  of  its  size  in  the 
western  section. 

The  county  seat  is  Haysville,  with  a  small  population,  that  of  the 
township  being  1,500. 

The  county  contains  224,251  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $262,418;  and 
58  town  lots,  valued  at  $10,341. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  574  ;  mules,  469 ;  jacks  and 
jennies,  16;  cattle,  3,892;  hogs,  7,032;  sheep,  5,551. 

Products  of  taxation — for  State,  $1,235.12;  pensions,  $179.74;  schools, 
$1,407.82;  county,  $3,036.86. 

Population — white,  4,055;  colored,  142;  to'al,  4,197. 


120  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


CLEVELAND. 

Cleveland  County  is  situated  on  the  southern  border  of  the  State. 
Its  northern  end  rests  upon  the  summit  of  the  Souih  Mountains,  at  an 
elevation  of  nearly  3,000  feet  above  sea-level,  and  its  upper  half  belongs 
properly  to  the  Piedmont  division.  It  is  drained  by  several  large  tribu- 
taries of  the  Broad  River,  which  rise  in  this  chain  and  cross  the  county 
southward  into  South  Carolina.  Its  agricultural  and  topographical 
features  are  very  similar  to  those  of  Catawba  County,  to  which  its  ter- 
ritory is  contiguous.  Its  soils  coi  sist  of  alternating  tracts  of  red  or 
reddish  clay  and  gray  and  yellow  gravelly  loams  (chiefly  the  latter), 
and  have  their  corresponding  forests  of  oak,  and  of  oak  mingled  with 
pine.  This  county  produces  cotton  throughout  its  territory,  even  up  to 
the  flanks  and  on  the  slopes  of  the  South  Mountain?,  ahhough  this 
form  of  agriculture  is  the  growth  of  a  decade,  the  product  having 
increased  twelvefold  in  that  time.  Gold  mining  is  also  a  familiar 
industry,  placers  being  common  in  the  north,  and  vein  mines  in  the 
south  end. 

The  soil  i^  generally  well  adapted  to  grain,  especially  to  wheat,  which 
is  of  fine  quality  and  unusually  productive,  fifty-two  bushels  to  the  acre 
having  been  reported,  and  thirty  bushels  is  not  uncommon.  Oats  and 
corn  thrive  in  unusual  luxuriance.  Tobacco  proves  well  adapted  to 
both  soil  and  climate,  and  the  finer  varieties  are  in  no  way  inferior  to 
those  raised  in  the  counties  which  for  generations  have  brought  up  their 
culture  to  the  dignity  of  a  fine  art.  And  this  is  the  result  of  diversi- 
ties in  the  characteristics  of  the  soil,  there  being  found  those  alterna- 
tions from  the  deep  rich  mould  of  the  lowlands,  and  the  lighter  cover- 
ing of  the  uplands,  not  less  abounding  in  the  elements  of  fertility. 
The  surface  of  the  county  is  undulating,  but  it  is  watered  by  several 
large  rivers  and  creeks,  among  which  are  the  two  Broad  Rivers  and 
Buffalo  Creek.  Along  these  stretch  large  areas  of  rich  alluvial  bottoms, 
unsurpassed  in  fertility.  Among  the  subjects  of  cultivation  to  which 
there  is  every  encouragement  is  that  of  the  grape,  which,  in  the  past, 
received  more  attention  than  now.  The  Cleveland  Vineyard  covers 
more  than  one  hundred  acres,  and  its  fruit  was  once  in  large  demand 
in  the  Northern  markets. 

Among  the  minerals  found  in  the  cumty  is  tin,  found  near  King's 
Mountain,  of  which  great  ultimate  expectation  is  entertained  ;  mica,  of 
which  some  of  the  largest  pieces  yet  found  have  been  obtained;  gold, 
copper,  corundum,  kaolin,  etc. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIKS.  121 

The  water-power  of  the  county  is  great  and  exhaustless,  and  is  applied 
to  several  cotton-mills  and  other  industries.  In  addition  to  the  aid  of 
"water-power,  Cleveland  has  the  aid  of  two  imjiortant  railroads — the 
Carolina  Central,  bisecting  it  nearly  from  east  to  west,  with  its  eastern 
terminus  at  Wilmington ;  and  a  part  of  the  great  Air-Line  system,  con- 
necting with  Norfolk;  and  the  Three  C's,  connected  on  the  south  with 
Charleston,  with  ultimate  northern  terminus  on  the  Ohio  River,  but  at 
present  completed  only  to  Marion,  on  the  Western  North  Carolina  Rail- 
road.    These  reads  both  pass  by  Shelby. 

Shelby  is  the  county  seat,  finely  situated  on  a  series  of  dome-like 
hills,  and,  in  beauty  of  location  and  elegance  of  construciion,  is  unsur- 
passed by  any  town  of  its  size  in  the  State.  It  is  intersected  by  broad, 
straight  and  shaded  streets,  and  is  adorned  with  a  large,  well-planted 
square,  in  the  center  of  which  is  the  court-house,  on  the  apex  of  the 
series  of  hills,  the  culmination  of  fine  prospects  commanding  the  sur- 
rounding country  and  the  distant  mountains.  Here  there  are  good 
hotels,  fine  churches,  tlouri=hing  schools  and  an  industrious  population. 
Two  miles  east  are  the  Cleveland  Springs,  celebrated  for  their  varied 
curative  powers,  their  comfortable  accommodations  and  their  agreeable 
environments.  Shelby  has  a  population,  by  the  census  of  1890,  of 
1,394;  Kings  Mountain,  429,  and  a  number  of  other  small  villages. 

The  county  contaiiis  271,957  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,630,356;  and 
781  town  lots,  valued  at  ^289,926. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1 ,282  horses,  2,432  mules,  11  jacks  and 
jennies,  23  goats,  6,678  cattle,  8,247  hogs,  3,900  sheep. 

Products  of  taxation— State,  -$7,96 1  ;  pensions,  $1,127.14;  schools, 
$8,692.56;  county,  $15,851.84. 

Population— white,  17,301;  colored,  3,093  ;  total,  20,394. 

COLUMBUS. 

This  county  lies  in  the  south  east  corner  of  the  State  bordering  upon 
South  Carolina.  It  contains  a  consideiable  portion  of  upland  piny 
woods.  It  is  penetrated  through  all  its  parts  by  narrow  belts  of  gum 
and  cypress  swamps  and  considerable  tracts  of  oak  and  [)ine  flats.  The 
average  soil  of  its  upland  piny  woods  is  of  moderate  fertility,  well 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  cotton,  but  the  richer  swamp  and  gray-loam 
lands  are  devoted  principally  to  corn.  Brown  Marsh  and  White 
Marsh  are  two  large  bod  es  of  swamp  in  the  eastern  side  of  the  county, 
and  Gum  Swam[)  and  others  of  less  extent  are  found  in  the  south  and 
west.     The  production  of  cotton,  potatoes  and  rice  divides  with  lumber 


122  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

and  naval  stores  the  interest  of  its  people.     Marl  is  found  in  several 
parts  of  the  county. 

The  climate  is  mild,  and  from  its  proximity  to  the  Gulf  stream,  has  ' 
some  features  of  the  semi-tropical;  to  such  extent  that  the  sugar  cane 
is  cultivated  to  small  extent  by  almost  every  family  for  domestic  use, 
and  cane  sugar  has  been  successfully  made.  It  is  a  climate  and  soil 
well  suited  to  the  grape,  and  wine  has  long  been  made  on  a  consider- 
able scale. 

The  marshes  furnish  large  quantities  of  timber,  shingles  and  staves, 
which  are  floated  to  market  through  the  Waccamaw  and  other  streams 
having  their  sources  in  the  county;  or  by  the  railroads  which  traverse 
the  county,  the  Carolina  Central,  the  Wilmington,  Columbia  and 
Augusta,  and  the  Wilmington  and  Chadbourne.  In  this  county  is  the 
beautiful  and  extensive  sheet  of  water  known  as  Waccamaw  Lake,  10 
or  12  miles  long,  and  from  6  to  8  wide,  from  10  to  15  feet  deep,  with 
clear  waters,  abounding  in  fish,  and  on  two  of  its  sides  with  clean  sandy 
beach.  It  is  a  frequent  resort  for  pleasure  parties  from  Wilmington 
and  elsewhere. 

VVhiteville  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  372.  Columbus 
contains  545,747  acres  of  land,  valued  at  ^891,499,  and  277  town  lots, 
valued  at  $70,333. 

Of  domestic  animals  it  contains,  horses,  671;  mules,  614;  goats, 
2,619;  cattle,  10,029;  hogs,  30,433;  sheep,  9,350. 

Proceeds  of  taxation — State,  $4,384;  pensions,  $661.71;  schools, 
$7,815.09;  county,  $5,505.25. 

Population— white,  11,804;  colored,  6,027;  total,  17,831. 

CRAVEN. 

Craven  is  a  large,  straggling  county,  stretching  60  miles  along  the 
lower  reaches  of  the  Neuse  River,  which  passes  through  its  centre  and 
drains  its  entire  area.  The  physical  description  of  its  territory,  espe- 
cially the  southern  and  eastern  sections,  is  identical  with  that  of  the 
two  preceding  counties.  It  consists  largely  of  swamps,  pocoson  and 
oak  fla's.  The  section  lying  north  of  the  Neuse  River  belongs  for  the 
most  part  in  its  agricultural  features  to  the  second  subdivision,  or  long- 
leaf  pine  belt,  having  considerable  tracts  of  pine  flats  and  long-leaf 
pine  ridges,  with  a  soil  ofien  very  sandy  and  unproductive.  Near  its 
upper  margin  it  is  penetrated  by  considerable  tracts  of  swamp  and 
semi-swamp  lands,  which  project  southward  from  Pamlico  River  and 
form  properly  the  western  extension  of  Bay  River  Swamp.     Along  the 


DESCRIPTION    OF   COUNTIES.  123 

southern  sliore  of  Neuse  River  tlie  soil  is  mainly  a  close  gray  loam. 
The  Great  Dover  Pocoson,  occupying  more  than  100  square  miles  in 
its  south-western  angle,  is  elevated  60  feet  above  tide  in  its  central  part, 
and  is  very  flat  and  sterile  for  the  most  part,  but  has  strips  of  oak  and 
pine  flats  radiating  in  all  directions  from  the  centre  along  the  numer- 
ous streams. 

Craven  County  is  interesting  historically,  as  being  one  of  the  original 
Proprietary  counties.  It  was  formed  from  Bath  County,  and  derives 
its  name  from  William,  Earl  Craven,  one  of  the  Lord's  Proprietors. 
It  is  more  interesting,  perhaps,  from  its  having  been  selected  by  the 
Baron  DeGraffenreid  as  the  locality  of  his  Swiss  Colony,  which  was 
planted  here  in  the  early  years  of  the  18th  Century,  the  point  of  settle- 
ment at  the  junction  of  the  Trent  and  Neuse  Rivers,  having  been 
named  after  Bern,  the  principal  city  of  the  Swiss  Canton  from  which 
the  colonists  were  transplanted.  The  colony  did  not  flourish ;  yet  in 
process  of  time  it  became  the  seat  of  refinement  and  high  intellectual 
culture,  and  some  of  the  leading  men  of  North  Carolina  draw  their 
origin  from  this  place. 

The  city  is  beautifully  situated  at  the  junction  of  Neuse  and  Trent 
Rivers,  the  Neuse  forming  its  eastern,  and  the  Trent  its  southern 
boundary ;  both  wide  and  beautiful  streams.  The  soil  upon  which  it 
is  built  is  light  and  sand}--,  and  gently  slopes  to  the  rivers;  consequently 
the  drainage  is  perfect.  Owing  to  its  situation  at  the  junction  of  two 
wide  rivers,  and  only  28  statute  miles  from  the  ocean,  the  winters  are 
mild,  and  the  summer  heats  are  greatly  modified  by  the  daily  sea 
breeze  from  the  south-west  and  south-east. 

The  foreign  trade,  once  extensive,  but  confined  chiefly  to  the  West 
Indies,  has  almost  ceased  to  exist,  and  is  replaced  by  the  facilities 
afforded  by  the  addition  of  steam  to  the  development  of  interior  water 
ways,  and  by  the  introduction  of  railroads;  and  is  probably  greater 
than  it  was  in  1885,  when  the  following  table  was  published  :  45,000 
bales  cotton,  3,000,000  shingles,  6,000,000  feet  of  lumber,  500  tons  cot- 
ton-seed meal,  1,000  gallons  cotton-seed  oil,  200,000  bushels  rough  rice, 
40,000  boxes  canned  goods,  6,100  casks  milled  rice,  1,000  casks  spirits 
turpentine,  8,000,000  wooden  plates,  250,000  bushels  of  corn,  10,000 
barrels  naval  stores,  1,250  tons  fresh  fish,  40,000  barrels  Irish  potatoes, 
70,000  boxes  green  peas,  25,000  boxes  beans,  14,000  packages  vegeta- 
bles, 50,000  melons. 

There  has  been  a  vast  addiiion  to  the  trucking  business,  a  fact  that 
will  be  noticed  elsewhere. 


124  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Craven  County  possesses  one  valuable  peculiarity  in  a  land  so  near 
the  fiat  sandy  ocean  beach:  the  entire  county  is  underlaid  either  with 
marl  or  with  a  conglomerate  of  shells  as  hard  and  as  durable  as  granite, 
which  is  used  for  building  purposes  and  also  for  the  manufacture  of 
lime.  On  the  Trent  River  it  is  found  in  inexhaustible  quantities,  and 
on  the  sides  of  the  river  it  rises  in  banks  to  the  height  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet. 

Newbern,  the  county  seat,  and  the  only  considerable  town  in  the 
county,  has  a  population  of  7,843.  It  is  be:uitifully  laid  off  and  well 
shaded,  handsomely  built,  with  fine  public  buildings,  numberless  fine 
residences,  extensive  business  houses,  mills  and  factories,  and  does  a 
very  extensive  business  in  fish  and  trucking. 

Craven  County  contains  296,564  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $635,563; 
and  town  lots  valued  at  $935,237. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,029  horses,  586  mules,  10  jacks  and 
jennies,  6,444  cattle,  423  goats,  12,528  hogs  and  1,894  sheep. 

Products  of  taxation— for  State,  S7,255.20;  pensions,  $939.35;  schools, 
$10,674.76;  county,  $20,043.77. 

Population — while,  7,175;  colored,  13,358;  total,  20,533. 

CUMBERLAND. 

Through  the  middle  of  Cumberland  County,  from  its  western  mar- 
gin, on  the  Moore  County  line,  to  the  Cape  Fear  River,  which  crosses 
the  eastern  side  of  the  county,  lies  a  broad,  irregular  zone  of  pine  bar- 
rens, with  a  very  sandy  and  unproductive  soil  and  an  almost  exclusive 
growth  of  long-leaf  pine.  On  both  sides  of  this  zone,  along  the  north- 
ern and  southern  sections  of  the  county,  with  unimportant  excepions, 
and  in  the  section  eastward  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  the  soils  belong  to 
the  class  of  gray  sandy  loams  of  the  average  ujjland  piny  woods.  Near 
the  river,  on  both  sides,  are  large  tracts  of  semi-swamp  and  oak  and 
pine  flats,  which  are  very  productive.  Many  of  the  streams  which  flow 
from  the  central  pine  barrens  of  the  county  contain  narrow  fringes  of 
gum  and  cypre-s  swamp,  and  the  swampy  tracts  along  the  river  often 
contain  a  considerable  percentage  of  cypress.  The  turpentine  and  lum- 
ber interests  are  slill  important,  though  of  diminishing  importance  each 
year  with  the  gradual  and  certain  consumption  of  the  pine  forests.  The 
west  side  of  the  river,  after  rising  from  the  river  bottoms,  is  a  rolling 
sandy  county,  comparatively  unproductive,  occasionally  presenting 
broad  flats  of  lands  su.sceptible  of  high  improvement,  producing  grains 
and  fruits  of  market  excellence.  The  river  lands  are  devoted  to  cotton 
and  corn. 


DESCKHTION    OF    COUNTIKS.  125 

Through  the  pine  hinds  run  numerous  bokl,  strong  and  swiftly  flow- 
ing streams,  never  diminished  by  drought  and  rarely  excited  by  Ireshet. 
These,  from  the  earliest  settlement,  furnished  convenient  mill-sites,  and 
originated  that  active  lumber  industi}'  so  stimulating  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  county  and  that  of  the  towns  on  the  Cape  Fear  River;  and,  upon 
the  successful  introduction  of  the  cotton  manufacture  into  the  State, 
their  power  was  speedily  applied  to  the  use  of  cotton-mills,  which  were 
built  in  the  tow^n  of  Fayetteville,  on  Cro-s  and  Blount's  Creek,  on  Buck- 
head,  Beaver  Dam  and  Rockfish  (two  of  these)  Creeks,  and  on  Lower 
Little  River;  and  on  all  of  these  there  are  now  large  and  flourishing 
cotton  factories. 

Cumberland  County,  of  which  Ftiyetteville  is  now  the  chief  com- 
mercial city,  was  formed  in  1784,  and  taken  from  that  extensive  terri- 
tory then  called  "Bladen,"  and  was  named  in  compliment  to  William, 
Duke  of  Cumberland. 

In  1736  a  ship-load  of  emigrants  came  over  from  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland  and  located  in  Cumberland,  on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  near  the 
mouth  of  Cross  Creek,  where  they  found  a  number  of  their  countrymen 
already  settled.  For  several  years,  and  immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Culloden,  1746,  large  companies  of  the  Highlanders  continued  to  come, 
until  their  numbers  became  quite  numerous;  so  that,  in  1760,  the  set- 
tlement began  to  assume  importance,  and  was  formally  set  apart  for  a 
town.  It  was  called  "  Campbellton,"  in  honor  of  Mr.  Farquhard  Camp- 
bell, who  was  the  principal  personage  among  them. 

Fayelteville,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  at  the  head  of  steamboat 
navigation  on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  120  miles  by  water  above  Wilming- 
ton. Its  position,  both  with  relation  to  the  seaport  of  Wilmington  and 
to  the  interior,  gave  it  an  early  and  a  very  great  importance,  and  after 
the  Revolutionary  war  it  became  the  chief  receiving  and  distributing 
point  for  a  greater  number  of  the  interior  towns  and  counties.  It  lost 
much  of  its  importance  by  the  construction  of  railroads,  which  largely 
diverted  its  traffic  to  other  points.  By  enlarging  the  operations  of  its 
business,  which  it  was  enabled  to  do  by  the  addition  of  naval  stores  to 
the  subjects  of  its  business,  and  b}'  the  construction  of  several  railroads, 
it  is  rapidly  rfgaining  what  it  had  lest.  It  now  has  the  Cape  Fear  and 
Yadkin  Valley  road,  extending  from  Mt.  Airy,  in  Surry  County,  pass- 
ing through  Greensboro  and  terminating  at  Wilmington,  with  a  branch 
from  Fayetteville  to  Bennettsville,  S.  C,  a  total  of  upwards  of  325  miles. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  Coast  Line  system  has  completed  its  short-cut 
from  Wilson,  N.  C,  to  Florence,  S.  C,  thus  shortening  the  distance 
between  North  and  South,  on  this  great  highway  of  travel,  by  sixty 


126  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

miles.  These  additions  to  railroad  facilities  make  Fayelteville  an 
important  railroad  centre,  through  the  good  influences  of  which  it  must 
develop  and  prosper.  Fayetteville  is  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Cape  Fear  River,  and  has  a  population  of  4,222,  and,  including  Cross 
township,  of  6,072. 

Cumberland  County  contains  404,751  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,382,- 
000;  and  1,105  town  lots,  valued  at  $689,037. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,110;  mules,  1,258;  jacks 
and  jennies,  14;  goats,  1,440;  cattle,  7,993;  hogs,  23,234;  sheep,  5,541. 

Products  of  taxation — for  State  purposes,  $7,795.24;  pensions,  $  1 ,1 24.1 4; 
schools,  $10,412.61;  county,  $22,130.20. 

Population— white,  14,952;  colored,  12,369;  totfil,  27,321. 

CURRITUCK. 

Currituck  County  is  bounded  northward  by  Virginia,  eastward  by 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  southward  mainly  by  Albemarle  Sound,  and 
is  traversed  north  and  south  by  Currituck  Sound,  which  occupies  about 
one-third  of  its  territor}^  Between  this  sound  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
lies  a  narrow  strip  of  sandy  soil,  which  in  its  origin  is  a  sand-dune  of 
the  breadth  of  from  1  to  3  miles,  rising  in  srme  of  its  higher  hillocks 
tir  nearly  one  hundred  feet,  covered  generally  with  a  small  growth  of 
pine,  oak,  hickory,  dogwood,  etc.  The  body  of  the  county,  particularly 
the  northern  section,  is  quite  level,  and  has  a  growth  of  oaks,  hickory 
and  short-leaf  pine,  and  a  clay  loam  soil,  but  becomes  swampy  near 
the  streams.  There  is  a  narrow  belt  of  oak  and  pine  lands  also  in  the 
middle  section.  The  narrow  southern  promontory  which  projects  into 
Albemarle  Sound  is  for  the  most  part  sandy,  and  except  along  the 
margin  of  the  sounds,  where  it  is  more  or  less  swampy,  has  a  growth 
of  long-leaf  pine.  With  the  exception  of  the  dune  hills,  nearly  the 
whole  county  lies  below  the  level  of  10  feet  above  tide. 

The  soils  of  this  county  are  much  better  adapted  to  corn  and  rice 
than  to  cotton.  The  sta'k  of  the  latter  grows  luxuriantly,  but  does  not 
fruit  well.  Fishing  is  also  naturally  a  leading  industr}',  and  the  county 
has  great  facilities  for  truck  f<irming,  which  is  raj)idly  accjuiring  impor- 
tance. 

The  most  abundant  facilities  exist  for  shipping  by  the  sounds  and 
canals  and  by  rail. 

The  railroad  from  Norfolk  to  Edenton  passes  through  Currituck 
County,  and  not  only  largely  facilitates  the  general  business  of  the 
county,  but  has  proved  an  enormous  stimulant  to  the  business  of  truck 


DESCRIPTION    OF   COUNTIES.  127 

farming  by  the  dispatch  with  which  products  of  all  kinds  are  put  fresh 
upon  the  markels  of  the  North.  The  connection  of  the  waters  of  Cur- 
rituck Sound  with  those  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  by  which  navigation  for 
large  steamers  and  sailing  vessels  is  made  practicable,  has  rcsulied  in 
the  large  development  of  interior  navigation,  by  which,  to  all  practical 
uses,  the  passage  through  the  inlets  and  the  dangers  of  the  coast  may 
be  entirely  avoided.  Besides  the  abundance  of  fish  in  the  sounds  and 
in  tiie  waters  of  Currituck  County,  the  sound  abounds  in  wild  fowl  in 
incredible  numbers.  Canvass-back  and  other  ducks,  swan,  geese,  brant 
and  other  game  fowl,  during  the  winter  season,  in  numbers  equalled 
nowhere  on  our  coast,  except,  perhaps,  in  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Chesapeake;  and  the  food  they  obtain  being  abundant  and  conducive 
to  high  flavor,  this  section  is  much  resorted  to  by  gunners  for  market 
supplies,  and  also  by  wealthy  amateurs,  who  lease  large  bodies  of  land 
and  water,  and  maintain  their  preserves  at  a  large  annual  outlay. 

Currituck  County  contains  107,647  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $344,842. 

The  number  of  domestic  animals  is — horses,  1,223;  mules,  218; 
goats,  100;  cattle,  3,379;  hogs,  9,796;  sheep,  2  079. 

Products  of  taxation  —  for  State  uses,  $1,745  33;  pensions,  $288  62; 
schools,  $1,586.61;  county,  $3,753.15. 

Population —white,  4,731 ;  colored,  2,016;  total,  6,747. 

DARE. 

The  surface  of  Dare  County  is  mainly  water,  the  land,  made  up  of  a 
succession  of  long,  narrow  islands  and  peninsulas,  being  interpenetrated 
throughout  by  great  bays,  sounds  and  navigable  bayous.  The  county 
is  bounded  eastward  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  westward  by  Alligator 
River  and  southward  by  Pamlico  Sound.  The  larger  portion,  on  the 
main-land,  is  a  swamp,  which  lies  but  a  few  feet  above  tide-level. 
Around  the  margins  of  this  portion,  next  the  sound,  are  narrow  tracts 
of  a  few  miles,  in  places,  of  drainable,  cultivable  land  belonging  to  the 
general  description  of  oak  flats,  having  a  gray-loam  soil  of  a  close 
texture.  It  is  also  fringed  by  considerable  bodies  of  marsh  land  next 
the  sound,  from  which  large  crops  of  cranberries  are  gathered.  Roanoke 
Island,  a  part  of  this  county,  lies  within  the  upper  portion  of  Pamlico 
Sound,  and  is  a  narrow  tract,  twelve  miles  in  length  and  from  two  to 
three  miles  in  width.  The  upper  portion  is  for  the  most  part  sandy, 
with  a  short-leaf  pine  growth,  intermixed  with  oaks,  and  the  southern 
half  is  mainly  swamp  and  marsh.  The  easternmost  part  of  the  county, 
like  the  corresponding  portion  of  Currituck,  is  a  narrow  fringe  of  sand 


128  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

reef,  properly  a  dune,  which,  as  in  the  for  ;r  case,  was  originally  cov- 
ered with  a  forest  of  short-leaf  pine,  oaks,  hi.^kories,  dogwood,  etc.,  with 
abundance  of  grape-vines.  These  have  for  the  most  part  disappeared, 
leaving  a  tract  of  sand  waves,  which  are  moving,  under  the  impact  of 
the  trade  winds,  constantly  toward  the  south-west  into  the  sound,  and 
sometimes  rise  to  a  height  of  more  than  100  feet.  There  is  very  little 
tillable  land  in  the  county. 

This  county  was  formed  in  1870  from  the  county  of  Hyde,  to  which 
was  added  portions  of  Carteret  and  Tyrrell  Counties,  and  derives  its 
name  from  Virginia  Dare,  the  first  white  child  born  on  the  continent. 
A  very  large  portion  of  Dare  County  is  swamp  1,  "ids,  and  there  are 
large  bodies  of  it  heavily  timbered  with  cypress  and  juniper.  On  the 
side  bounded  by  Pamlico  Sound  there  are  lands  that  will  produce 
grasses,  vegetables,  corn,  peas  and  potatoes.  No  pv  Hon  of  Eastern 
Carolina  presents  better  facilities  for  cattle-raising,  the  fot^l  being  abund- 
ant and  the  climate  mild.  The  chief  industry  is  fislii^A  which  is  car- 
ried on  to  a  great  extent.  Roanoke  Island  forms  a  partW  this  county. 
Upon  this  island  is  Manteo,  the  county  seat,  named  in  Jionor  of  the 
Indian  chief  Manteo,  the  first  of  his  race  in  North  Carolinajkto  embrace 
the  Christian  religion.  This  island  was  the  first  place  on  tlr^  continent 
colonized  by  the  English.  V-. 

In  this  county,  on  the  bank  lying  immediately  upon  the  stl^  coast,  is 
the  far-famed  place  of  summer  resort,  known  as  Nags  H^f^.  This 
delightful  re-.ort  is  noted  for  its  health,  the  sea-bathing,  and  'ts  fine 
drives. 

Dare  County  has  1-17,469  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $173,105. 

Domestic  animals  are — horses,  525;  mules,  17;  goats,  75;  cattle, 
1,981;  hogs,  4,281;  sheep,  1,433. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $905.07;  pensions,  $142.81; 
schools,  $1,410.18;  county,  $2,735.77. 

Population— white,  3,362;  colored,  406;  tot.il,  3.768. 

DAVIDSON. 

This  county  lies  midway  of  the  breadth  of  the  State  and  of  the  mid- 
land division,  and  on  the  northern  border  of  the  cotton  belt.  The  aver- 
age elevation  is  about  800  feet  above  sea-level — the  northern  end  1,000 
and  the  south-western  600  feet — but  is  interrupted  by  ranges  of  hills 
which  arc  000  feet  in  height  and  upward.  The  county  is  bounded  on 
the  west  by  the  tortuous  course  of  the  Yadkin  River,  whose  numerous 
tributaries  drain  almost  its  entire  surface,  one  of  which,  Abbott's  Creek, 


301 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  129 

traverses  its  middle  section  from  north  to  south,  while  a  multitude  of 
smaller  streams  flow  in  a  generally  south-west  course  into  the  river. 
Both  the  river  itself  and  these  tributaries  are  generally  bordered  by 
tracts  of  bottom  lands  with  a  rich  alluvial  soil,  covered  by  heavy  forests 
of  oak — largely  white  oak.  There  are  considerable  tracts  of  red-clay 
soil  scattered  through  various  portions  of  the  county,  which  are  covered 
with  heavy  oak  forests.  The  eastern  and  northern  margins,  which  lie 
along  the  elevated  divides  and  swells  between  the  greater  rivers,  con- 
tain mixed  oak  and  pine  forests,  and  have  a  soil  which  is  generally  a 
gray  and  yellow  gravelly  or  sandy  loam.  A  clay  subsoil  is  found 
throughout  the  county.  The  cotton  product  of  Davidson  County  is 
small,  and  is  limited  to  its  southern  end.  Its  w'heat  crop  is  the  largest 
in  the  State.  The  southern  half  of  the  county  lies  within  the  great 
gold  belt,  and  numerous  mines  of  gold  and  quite  a  number  of  copper 
and  silver  have  been  opened.  The  slate-hills  of  the  south  end  are 
notable  for  their  deposits  of  gold  gravel,  or  placers. 

The  county  early  attracted  attention  through  the  great  fertility  of  the 
soil,  especially  in  the  south-western  part  and  that  lying  along  the  Yad- 
kin River  and  its  lower  tributaries,  and  it  was  in  this  section  that  was 
formed  the  famous  Jersey  Settlement,  or  a  portion  of  it — a  name  given 
by  immigrants  chiefly  from  New  Jersey  and  portions  of  Pennsylvania — 
retaining  to  this  day  its  name,  its  fertility  and  the  agricultural  skill 
and  industry  of  its  early  settlers. 

The  county  is  traversed  from  north  east  to  south-west  by  the  North 
Carolina  division  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad,  and  along 
the  line  are  a  number  of  thriving  towns. 

Lexington,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  given  by  the  census  of 
1890  at  1,440.  It  contains  several  manufacturing  establishments,  and 
in  addition  acquires  consequence  from  being  in  contiguity  to  several 
mines  of  the  precious  metals.  Thomasville,  with  a  town  population 
given  at  490,  and  a  township  population  of  3,057,  has  been  noted  for 
good  schools,  and  is  the  s,eat  of  a  branch  of  the  Orphan  Asylum.  It  has 
also  several  flourishing  manufactories. 

Davids :)n  County  contains  353,062  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,718,061, 
and  481  town  lots,  valued  at  $281,016. 

Domestic  animals  are — horses,  3,558;  mules,  1,573;  jacks  and  jen- 
nies, 19;  goats,  30;  cattle,  8,450;  hogs,  18,651;  sheep,  9,514. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $7,949.97;  pensions,  $1,168.11; 
schools,  $8,779.01 ;  county,  $9,046.87. 

Population— white,  18,174;  colored,  3,528 ;  total,  21,702. 


130  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


DAVIE. 

This  is  a  small  county  lying  in  the  angle  between  the  Yadkin  and 
the  South  Yadkin  Rivers.  In  the  southern  half  of  this  county  the 
soils  belong  largely  to  the  class  of  red  clays,  and  are  covered  with 
heavy  oak  forests,  while  the  middle  and  northern  portions  have  a 
mixed  growth  of  oaks  and  pines,  and  a  light-gray,  sandy  and  gravelly 
soil.  This  section  of  the  county  is  mainly  devoted  to  the  culture  of 
tobacco.  The  river  hills,  Manking  both  the  Yadkin  and  its  chief  tribu- 
taries, are  quite  broken,  and  have  a  productive  gravelly  loam  soil  and 
forests  predominantly  of  oak.  The  elevation  of  the  surlace  ranges  from 
700  to  1,000  feet,  the  average  being  about  850  feet  above  sea-level.  The 
culture  of  cotton  has  recently  entered  the  southern  and  western  town- 
ships. The  grain  crop  is  quite  large,  and  latterly,  also,  tobacco  has 
been  cultivated  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  north  and  west  sections, 
the  soils  of  a  large  part  of  its  territory  being  well  adapted  to  the  higher 
grades.     There  are  several  valuable  iron  ore  deposits  in  the  county. 

Along  the  Yadkin  there  is  much  fine  bottom  land,  prolific  in  wheat, 
corn,  and  other  small  grains,  forming  an  important  proportion  of  the 
beautiful  "Valley  of  the  Yadkin,"  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  pro- 
ductive on  this  continent,  of  perpetual  fertility,  maintained  by  frequent 
but  not  destructive  overliows,  the  usually  placid  current  permitting  the 
gradual  subsidence  of  a  rich  sediment  which  adds  to  the  soil,  as  do  the 
waters  of  the  Nile  to  those  of  Egypt. 

The  county  is  now  traversed  by  a  railroad,  at  present  in  operation 
from  Winston  to  Mocksville,  and  ultimately  to  be  extended  to  some 
point  on  the  Western  North  Carolina  road.  The  northern  and  north- 
eastern sections  are  not  far  remote  from  the  Winston  and  Wilkesboro 
Railroad;  and  the  two  lines  give  reasonabl}'  ample  facilities  for  travel 
and  transportation. 

Mocksville  is  the  county  seat,  and,  including  the  township,  contains 
2,010  inhabitants. 

Davie  County  contains  161,167  acr  s  of  land,  valued  at  $883,911,  and 
197  town  lots,  valued  ai  871,175. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,637;  muks,  1,025;  jacks 
and  jennies,  5;  goats,  2;  cattle,  3,423;  hogs,  7,678;  sheep,  1,909. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State,  $4,084.27 ;  pensions,  $613  42 ;  schools, 
$4,368.53 ;  county,  $5,529.03. 

Population — white,  8,769;  colored,  2,852  ;  total,  11,621. 


DESCRIPTION'    OF    COUNTIES.  131 


DUPLIN 


Adjoins  Lenoir  and  Sampson,  and,  like  them,  has  considerable  varia- 
tion of  soil  and  surface.  The  northern  portion  consists  of  level  piny 
uplands,  penetrated  with  frequent  streams  margined  with  swamps.  It 
is  drained  by  North-east  Cape  Fear  River,  which  flows  southward 
through  its  middle  section,  and  both  this  and  the  numerous  tributaries 
are  bordered  by  belts  of  alluvial  and  often  swampy  lands.  Near  its 
northern  and  eastern  borders  are  two  small  pocosons,  and  within  its 
southern  section  lies  one-half  of  the  great  Angola  Bay  pocoson,  an 
almost  impenetrable  jungle  of  the  average  character  of  pocoson  lands, 
with  fringes  of  rich  swamp  lands  on  the  streams  that  issue  from  it. 
This  pocoson  is  flanked  on  the  westward  toward  the  North-east  Cape 
Fear  River  by  a  fringe  of  fertile  white-oak  flats  and  semi-swamp  lands. 
Between  the  tributaries  of  the  river,  on  the  divides,  are  several  tracts  of 
sandy  pine  hills,  which  are  very  unproductive.  The  cotton  lands, 
which  are  of  limited  extent,  are  the  level  piny  woods  of  the  usual 
description;  but  corn  is  a  more  valuable  crop,  and  the  product  of  pota- 
toes and  rice  is  of  considerable  importance.  The  county  has  still  val- 
uable resources  in  timber  and  turpentine  lands.  Marl  (blue  and  white) 
is  abundant,  though  but  little  used. 

The  county  is  traversed  by  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad, 
and,  with  its  water-ways,  has  convenient  access  to  marke's. 

Kenansville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  290;  Magnolia, 
with  a  population  of  460;  Faison's,  of  256,  and  Warsaw,  of  400,  are 
small  towns  lying  on  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad.  From 
Warsaw  a  railroad  of  12  miles  extends  to  Clinton,  in  Sampson  County. 

Daplin  County  has  436,472  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $962,787,  and 
402  town  lots,  valued  at  $109,286. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,505;  mules,  688;  jacks  and 
jennies,  2;  goat.s,  2,193;  cattle,  8,759;  hogs,  28,474;  sheep,  5,849. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  uses,  $1,641.06;  pensions,  $686  14; 
schools,  S6,055.44;  county,  $5,475.68. 

Population -white,  11,600;  colored,  7,090;  total,  18,600. 

DURHAM. 

This  county  formed  the  eastern  part  of  the  county  of  Orange,  and 
by  taking  part  of  the  north-western  corner  of  Wake  the  present  county 
was  formed.     This  was  made  necessary  by  the  rapid  growth  of  tlie  town 


132  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

of  Durham  and  the  creation  of  peculiar  interests  to  be  best  guarded 
and  advanced  by  an  administration  of  county  affairs  more  direct'y 
addressed  to  those  interests. 

A  large  portion  of  the  territory  of  this  county  lies  in  that  sandstone 
belt  or  old  sea-basin  extending  across  the  State  from  north-east  to  south- 
west, and  which  in  this  county  assumes  its  greatest  breadth.  The  north- 
ern part  of  the  county  is  of  a  different  geological  period,  with  a  stiffer 
soil.  Ill  the  north  eastern  part  the  parent  streams  cff  the  Neuse  River 
unite — the  Eno,  Flat  and  Little  Rivers — and  their  borders  are  all  mar- 
gined with  broad  rich  bottom  lands,  an  extent  of  fertile  low  grounds 
rarely  found  to  such  extent  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  and  productive 
in  cotton,  corn,  wheat  and  other  grains.  In  the  hill  country  along  their 
valleys,  and  in  the  gray  lands  towards  the  county  of  Granville,  are 
found  the  best  tobacco  lauds,  producing  that  fine  quality  which  has 
added  so  much  to  the  fame  of  the  State  and  the  magnitude  of  the 
Durham  tobacco  market.  The  lands  not  in  cultivation  are  covered 
with  oak,  hickory,  short-leaf  pine  and  other  woods,  but  the  timber  is 
nowhere  large  except  in  the  still  uncleaned  bottoms,  where  the  trees 
attain  a  magnitude  scarcely  surpassed  anywhere  in  the  State. 

The  staple  crops  of  the  county  are  cotton  of  hue  quality,  tobacco  of 
the  highest  grade,  wheat,  corn,  oats,  &c.  The  lands  on  the  river  bot- 
toms referred  to,  and  in  the  valleys  of  New  Hope  Creek  and  its  tribu- 
taries, produce  large  crops  of  the  grains  of  all  kinds,  and  also  good 
crops  of  cotton,  but  are  not  adapted  to  fine  tobacco. 

Durham,  the  county  seat,  is  almost  the  sole  instance  in  this  State  of 
a  town  springing  from  a  cross-road  station  to  the  importance  of  a  city, 
all  in  less  than  the  lapse  of  a  generation.  It  was  a  petty  village  in 
1870.  It  is  now  known  all  over  the  world.  It  is  bisected  by  the  North 
Carolina  Railroad,  and  is  the  terminus  of  the  Lynchburg  and  Durham, 
and  of  roads  with  through  connections  from  Durham  to  Oxford  and  to 
Henderson.  It  is  the  seat  of  the  largest  smoking  tobacco  factory  in  the 
world — the  original  Blackwell  and  Carr;  of  the  largest  cigarette  fac- 
tory in  the  world — Dukes  and  son ;  of  numerous  other  smoking  tobacco 
factories;  of  a  snuff  factory ;  of  sales  warehouses,  selling  from  15,000,000 
to  18,000,000  pounds  of  leaf  a  year,  of  a  business  which  extends  not 
only  over  the  United  States  but  over  the  Western  Hemisphere, over  the 
whole  world;  of  a  cotton  manufactory;  of  a  fertilizer  factory;  of  other 
important  industries;  and  it  is  also  the  seat  of  Trinity  College,  the  chief 
Methodist  College  of  the  State;  numerous  churches,  graded  and  other 
schools  for  both  races;  has  water- works,  gas  and  electric  lighting  and 
telephone  exchange,  and  will  soon  resume  the  use  of  its  street  railway 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  133 

system,  for  some  time  suspended;  in  addition  to  which  it  has  all  the 
advantages  derived  from  the  use  of  a  belt  line  of  railroad. 

Durham  County  contains  168,035  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,459,054, 
and  6G5  town  lots,  valued  at  $1,332,055. 

Proceeds  of  taxation— for  State  uses,  $14,600.03;  pensions,  $1,815.68; 
schools,  $13,560  59;  county,  $23,804.36. 

Population— white,  10,712;  colored,  7,329 ;  total,  18,041. 

EDGECOMBE. 

Edgecombe  is  a  typical  county  of  the  long-leaf  pine  region.  It  is 
traversed  through  its  middle  portion  by  the  Tar  River,  and  is  drained 
by  its  numerous  tributaries.  The  soils  are  characteristically  gray  sandy 
loams,  with  a  yellow  to  brown  subsoil,  and  belong  to  the  region  of  level 
piny  uplands.  Along  the  borders  of  the  various  streams  are  frequent 
and  extensive  tracts  of  alluvial  lands,  and  on  some  of  them  occur 
cypress  and  gum  swamps.  This  is  one  of  the  leading  cotton  counties 
of  the  State.  It  stands  second  among  the  counties  of  the  State  in  its 
product  of  cotton,  and  its  corn  crop  is  also  among  the  largest.  The 
long-leaf  pines,  which  were  once  found  abundant  over  the  whole  sur- 
face of  this  county  (and  region),  have  been  thinned  until  they  are  a 
subordinate  element,  so  that  the  reiriaining  forests  are  mainly  of  short- 
leaf  pine  and  oak. 

Both  commercial  fertilizers  and  the  native  marls  have  been  more 
largely  used  than  elsewhere  in  the  State,  and,  in  connection  with  com- 
post, most  effectively;  so  that  Edgecombe  has  long  been  foremost  in 
this  special  agriculture  of  the  east. 

Edgecombe  was  formed  from  Craven,  in  1733,  by  Governor  Burring- 
ton  and  his  Council,  and  this  action  was  confirmed  by  the  Legislature 
which  met  in  Edenton  in  1741.  During  the  period  of  the  Revolution 
the  county  of  Edgecombe  was  foremost  in  resisting  the  exactions  of  the 
mother  country. 

The  soil  of  the  county  has  every  variety,  from  the  black  peaty  soil 
to  the  stiff  clay.  The  predominating  soil  is  a  light  friable  loam,  being 
about  four  inches  in  depth,  shading  off  in  most  places  to  a  subsoil  of 
yellow  sand.  When  fresh,  it  is  of  a  darkish  color,  wearing  white  by 
use  when  not  well  manured  and  properly  cultivated.  This  soil  is  easy 
to  till  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

The  variety,  excellence  and  abundance  of  the  products  indicate  alike 
the  character  of  the  soil  and  the  intelligence  and  industry  of  the  farm- 
ers.    Those  at  an  early  period  assisted  or  directed  nature  in  the  use  of 


134  HAND-BOOK    OF    KORTH    CAROLINA. 

her  forces,  and  by  the  skilful  application  of  fertilizers,  and  by  the  care- 
ful husbanding  and  skilful  manipulation  of  all  domestic  stores  of  fer- 
tility, made  Edgecombe  conspicuous  as  one  of  the  best  and  most  profit- 
ably cultivated  counties  in  the  State.  It  became  in  time  one  of  the 
leading  cotton  counties  —  in  1880  ranking  next  to  Wake — and  this 
relation  it  still  holds.  Its  production  of  corn  is  also  large,  enough  so 
to  give  it  a  leading  importance  as  a  corn-producing  county.  These 
constitute  the  most  valuable  field  crops,  but  wheat,  oals,  rice,  potatoes, 
peas,  etc.,  are  cultivated  largely  and  successfully.  Truck  farming  is 
enlisting  enterprise  and  capital,  and  is  remunerative.  Dairy  farming 
is  pursued  to  considerable  extent,  with  satisfactory  results.  Tobacco  is 
of  comparatively  recent  culture  as  a  market  crop.  The  census  returns 
for  1880  gave  a  crop  of  only  550  pounds;  those  for  1890  placed  the  crop 
of  the  preceding  year  at  51,420  pounds.  The  effect  of  this  increase  in 
this  and  adjacent  counties  is  to  transfer  to  this  section  much  of  the 
interest  once  centered  on  the  counties  in  the  Middle  Section,  and  to 
have  necessitated  the  erection  of  sales  warehouses,  tobacco  factories 
and  all  the  agencies  needed  for  the  handling  of  the  annually  increas- 
ing crops. 

A  recent  estimate  (1891)  says:  "There  were  no  less  than  150,000  acres 
in  cultivation  in  Edgecombe  County  during  the  past  year.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  50,000  acres  in  cotton  yielded  upward  of  33,000  bales;  that 
1,200  acres  in  tobacco  yielded  850,000  pounds;  that  8,000  acres  of  pea- 
nuts produced  500,000  bushels;  that  25,000  acres  in  corn,  peas,  etc., 
produced  enough  to  supply  the  county  for  two  years." 

Tarboro,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  Tar 
River,  and,  with  four  railroad  outlets,  has  commercial  advantages  sur- 
passed by  few  towns  in  the  State.  It  has  a  population  of  1,924,  or, 
including  Princeville  and  Tarboro  township,  of  4,435. 

Rocky  Mount,  partly  in  Edgecombe  and  partly  in  Nash,  and  bisected 
by  the  line  of  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad,  has  a  population 
of  81G.  The  branch  road  for  Tarboro  begins  at  this  point.  In  the 
vicinity,  at  the  Falls  of  Tar  River,  are  the  Battle  Cotton  Mills,  the  oldest 
in  North  Carolina. 

Edgecombe  County  has  309,342  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $2,217,467; 
and  590  town  lots,  valued  at  |G33,839. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,541;  mules,  2,465;  jacks 
and  jennies,  3;  cattle,  4,781 ;  hogs,  12,762;  sheep,  2,176;  goatS;  373. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $11,585.99;  pensions,  $1,446.62; 
schools,  $13,266.24;  county,  $13,301.94. 

Population— white,  8,513;  colored,  15,600;  total,  24,113. 


TEOSINTE  AND  GUERNSEY  CATTLE 


DESCKIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  135 


FORSYTH. 

Forsyth  County  lies  west  of  Guilford,  and  is  bounded  on  the  west  by 
the  Yadkin  River.  Through  its  middle  portion  is  a  broad  swell,  or 
plateau,  the  divide  between  the  waters  of  the  Yadkin  and  Dan,  with 
an  elevation  of  from  1,000  to  1,200  feet,  and  having  forests  of  oak,  dog- 
wood, sourwood,  pine,  etc.  Its  soils  are  light  gray  loams.  The  tribu- 
taries of  the  Yadkin,  which  drain  the  south-western  section,  abound  in 
bottom  lands  of  great  fertility,  and  have  heavy  oak  forests,  interspersed 
with  hickory,  walnut,  poplar,  etc.,  while  the  middle,  northern  and  east- 
ern sections  are  characterized  largely  by  gray  sandy  loam  soils,  with 
forests  of  oak  and  pine.  This  county  shows  an  increasing  product  of 
the  better  and  medium  grades  of  tobacco. 

Forsyth  County  was  formerly  included  in  the  county  of  Rowan,  which, 
in  colonial  days,  comprised  the  extensive  possessions  of  Lord  Granville, 
grandson  of  Sir  George  Caiteret,  one  of  the  eight  original  Proprietors 
of  North  Carolina.  Seven-eighths  of  this  Proprietary  were  ceded  back 
to  the  Crown  in  1729,  in  consideration  of  the  payment  of  £2,500  to  each 
of  the  Proprietors.  Since  the  war  of  Independence,  this. tract  has  been 
divided  and  subdivided  into  various  counties.  Forsyth  was  formed 
from  Stokes  County  in  1848,  and  named  after  Col.  Benjamin  Forsyth, 
who  served  in  the  Revolution  and  was  killed  in  a  skirmish  in  Canada 
in  1814. 

This  county  is  conspicuous  for  containing  within  its  limits  the  tract 
of  land  known  as  "  Wachovia,"  granted  to  the  Unitas  Fnitrum,  or  United 
Brethren  of  the  Moravian  Church,  by  Lord  Granville,  August  7,  1753, 
and  thus  named  because  of  the  supposed  resemblance  to  a  valley  of 
that  name  in  Austria,  in  the  possession  of  Count  Zinzendorf,  the  great 
patron  of  the  Brotherhood.  In  1849  fifty-one  acres  of  the  Wachovia 
tract  were  sold  to  the  newly  formed  county  for  $5  per  acre,  upon  which 
the  plan  for  the  county  town  was  laid  out  and  the  court-house  and  jail 
erected,  under  the  supervision  of  the  late  Francis  Fries. 

Tobacco  is  the  staple  produce  of  agriculture,  as  well  as  manufacture. 
Very  little  was  grown,  however,  prior  to  1870,  and  none  at  all  earlier 
than  185S,  beyond  a  few  small  patches  for  home  consumption.  In  1875 
the  yield  had  reached  1,500,000  pounds,  and  to-day  borders  closely  on 
4,607,325  (census  returns  of  1890).  Wheat  grows  finely;  so  do  corn  and 
oats  and  other  grains,  and  also  the  grasses.  Fruits,  vegetables  and 
melons  grow  in  the  greatest  profusion,  and  of  almost  every  variety. 
The  dried  fruits  of  this  section  of  the  State  enjoy  the  reputation  of  the 


136  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

highest  quotations  in  the  New  York  market.  Grapes  thrive,  and  the 
early  settlers  of  the  county,  the  Moravians,  made  a  record  on  their 
books  that  in  one  year  they  had  made  nine  hogsheads  of  wine  from  the 
wild  native  grape. 

A  permanent  influence  was  exerted  upon  the  character  of  Salem,  and 
also  of  its  sister  town,  Winston,  by  the  early  custom  of  requiring  each 
man  to  learn  and  pursue  some  trade  or  occupation  as  a  means  of  liveli- 
hood, and  this  has  begotten  and  perpetuated  those  habits  of  industry, 
thrift  and  skill  which  have  made  that  people  so  self-reliant  and  the 
founders  of  their  own  fortunes.  It  adapted  them  also  to  those  mechan- 
ical industries  which  they  have  pursued  with  so  much  skill  and  success. 

In  industrial  fortune  Salem  and  Winston  are  closel}'  joined,  and  are 
so  intimately  associated  that  one  cannot  be  named  without  the  other. 
The  former  is  still  the  principal  seat  of  the  Moravian  Chutch  in  this 
State;  and  it  is  here  that  the  famous  Female  Academy,  now  one  hun- 
dred years  old,  has  flourished  and  diffused  its  usefulness  through  all 
the  States  of  the  South  and  West.  In  Salem  are  the  cotton  and  woolen 
mills  of  F.  &  H.  Fries,  iron  works  and  pottery,  and  at  Waughtown  are 
the  wagon  works  of  the  Nissens,  these  establishments  the  largest  of 
their  kind  in  the  South. 

Winston,  the  county  seat,  a  town  separated  only  from  Salem  by  the 
width  of  a  street,  has  grown  with  great  rapidity  and  to  great  wealth 
through  its  adaptation  to  the  tobacco  manufacture  and  to  the  sagacity 
of  its  people  in  applying  their  advantages.  Without  going  into  details, 
it  will  be  enough  to  say  that  in  the  29  factories  of  plug  tobacco  there 
was  manufactured  product  amounting  in  value  to  '$3,b00,000,  and  in 
four  warehouses  was  sold  leaf  tobacco  to  the  amount  of  16,086,373 
pounds,  of  the  value  of  $1,612,609.75.  Of  manufactured  tobacco  there 
was  sold  the  value  of  $11,000,000,  and  the  internal  revenue  tax  paid 
was  $660,005.52. 

The  population  of  Winston  is,  including  Salem,  11,300,  or  Winston 
8,018;  Salem,  1,711.  The  local  census  makes  a  much  larger  claim, 
and,  no  doubt,  justly.     Kernersville  has  a  population  of  900. 

Winslon  is  well  supplied  with  railroads,  and  has  become  an  impor- 
tant railroad  centre.  The  north-western  division  of  the  North  Carolina 
Railroad,  beginning  at  Greensboro,  had  for  a  long  time  its  terminus 
here,  but,  by  the  addition  of  the  road  to  Wilkesboro,  has  been  extended 
up  the  valley  of  the  Yadkin  a  distance  of  75  miles.  Winston  is  also 
the  southern  terminus  of  the  Roanoke  and  Southern,  a  line  of  125 
miles  in  length.  This  road  has  become  the  properly  of  the  Norfolk 
and  Southern,  A  road  has  also  been  built  from  Winston  to  Mocksville, 
in  Davie  County. 


DESCRIPTION    OP    COUNTIES.  137 

Forsyth  County  contains  237,682  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,264,388, 
and  2,083  town  lots,  valued  at  $1,725,028. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  2,602 ;  mules,  1,225  ;  jacks 
and  jennies,  16;  goats,  39;  cattle,  5,671  ;  hogs,  9,353;  sheep,  1,991. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  uses,  $18,238.83;  pensions,  $2,192.27; 
schools,  $19,486.44;  county,  $17,486.60. 

Population— white,  19,433;  colored,  9,001 ;  total,  28,434. 

FRANKLIN. 

The  western  portion  of  this  county  is  a  rolling  hilly  country,  with 
clay  a  predominant  in  the  soil,  and  bearing  a  natural  growth  of  oak, 
hickory  and  other  hard  woods,  and,  when  cultivated,  producing  the 
cereal'^,  cotton  and  tobacco.  The  eastern,  and  especially  the  south- 
eastern section,  contain  a  considerable  proportion  of  long-leaf  pine  as 
a  constituent  of  the  forests.  This  county  is  drained  by  Tar  River  and 
its  tiibutaries.  The  middle  portion  belongs  to  the  region  of  oak  and 
pine  gravelly  and  sandy  hills,  and  the  western  end  rises  into  the  oak 
uplands.  The  large  cotton  product  of  this  county  is  of  recent  date,  but 
here  and  in  the  adjoining  counties  it  has  greatly  increased  in  the  last 
dozen  years.  The  western  half  is  largely  devotfd  to  the  culture  of 
tobacco. 

By  a  division  of  old  "  Bute,"  one  of  the  Colonial  counties,  in  the 
year  1779,  Franklin  and  Warren  were  established.  The  name,  "  Bute," 
was  cast  aside  on  account  of  Earl  Bute's  hostility  to  the  cause  of  liberty, 
and  the  names,  Franklin  and  Warren,  were  given  to  the  divided  ter- 
ritory in  honor  of  the  distinguished  philosopher  and  statesman,  Dr. 
Benjamin  Franklin,  and  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  the  patriot-hero,  who  fell 
at  Bunker  Hill. 

The  Raleigh  and  Gaston  Railroad  passes  for  fourteen  miles  through 
this  county,  and  in  addition  to  the  facilities  afforded  by  it,  a  road  has 
been  constructed  from  Franklinton,  on  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  road,  to 
Louisburg,  the  county  seat,  a  distance  of  12  miles. 

The  county  singularly  abounds  in  minerals,  considering  its  close 
proximity  to  the  tertiary  belt.  Asbestos  and  mica  of  good  quality  are 
found,  and  granite  of  fine  quality,  susceptible  of  liigh  polish,  is  found 
abundantly  in  some  localities.  But  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the 
discoveries  is  that  of  gold.  In  the  north-eastern  portion  of  the  county, 
near  where  it  corners  with  Warren,  Nash  and  Halifax,  is  situated  the 
celebrated  Portis  gold  mine,  which  received  its  name  from  its  original 
owner,  John  Portis,  in  the  mud  daubingof  whose  log  cabin  the  shining 


138  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

particles  were  first  discovered.  It  has  been  successfully  worked  for 
nearly  three  quarters  of  a  century,  more  than  a  million  of  dollars 
having  been  taken  from  it.  Most  of  this  large  amount  was  washed 
from  the  top  soil  and  gravel  beds  just  underneath  at  a  small  cost. 
Stamp  mills  and  other  machinery  for  crushing  the  inexhaustible  beds 
of  quartz  have  been  but  recently  introduced.  This  ciuartz,  when 
crushed  and  assayed,  has  been  found  to  carry  from  $6  to  $12  worth  of 
gold  to  the  ton.  And  several  other  discoveries  of  nearly  equal  value 
have  been  made  in  the  county. 

As  before  stated,  cotton  and  tobacco  are  the  chief  crops  raised  for 
market. 

The  lowlands  upon  the  river  and  smaller  streams  are  well  adapted 
to  the  production  of  corn,  small  grain,  the  grasses,  and  rice,  only 
requiring  proper  drainage  and  cultivation  to  make  bountiful  crops,  one 
hundred  bushels  of  corn  having  been  raised  to  the  acre. 

The  uplands  are  of  a  variety  of  soils,  in  the  lower  part  of  the  county 
light  sandy,  with  clay  subsoil ;  in  the  middle  and  upper  portions  granite, 
mainly  with  red  and  yellow  clay  subsoil. 

Large  areas  of  these  uplands,  well  adapted  to  the  growth  of  corn, 
cotton,  tobacco,  wheat,  rye,  oats,  peas,  beans,  sweet  and  Irish  potatoes, 
.clover  and  grass,  produce,  with  proper  cultivation  and  manuring,  most 
satisfactory  yields. 

Louisburg,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  667.  Franklinton, 
on  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  Railroad,  has  583. 

Franklin  County  has  292,264  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,779,065; 
and  369  town  lots,  valued  at  §270,986. 

Of  domestic  animals  it  has — horses,  1,753;  mules,  1,069;  jacks  and 
jennies,  3;  goats,  225;  cattle,  6,601;  hogs,  11,884;  sheep,  3,486. 

Product  of  taxes — for  State  uses,  $7,640.08;  pensions,  $1,066.06; 
schools,  $9,485.30;  county,  $10,338.81. 

Population— white,  10,755;  colored,  10,335;  total,  21,090. 

GASTON. 

Gaston,  a  small  county,  lies  on  the  southern  border  of  the  Stjte,  and 
is  bounded  eastward  by  the  Catawba  River,  whose  tributaries  drain  its 
entire  surface.  In  the  .southern  section  are  several  small  mountain 
chains  and  spurs,  the  highest  of  which,  Kings  Mountain,  reaches  an 
altitude  of  nearly  1,700  feet  above  sea-level.  Most  of  the  county  is 
quite  broken,  and  partakes  of  the  character  of  the  Piedmont  division. 
It  is  characterized  by  mixed  forests  of  oak  and  pine,  and  by  gray  and 


DESCRIPTION    OF   COUNTIES.  139 

yellow  gravelly  soils  of  moderate  fertility,  with  occasional  areas  of  red- 
clay  soils.  In  the  north-western  section  are  the  largest  tracts  of  oak 
and  hickory  forests,  with  their  corresponding  red-clay  soils. 

There  are  many  valuable  beds  of  iron  ore  in  the  county,  and  the 
manufactures  of  cotton,  and  formerly  of  iron,  have  attained  consider- 
able importance.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  iron  manufacturing  regions  of 
the  South,  some  of  its  furnaces  dating  back  nearly  one  hundred  years. 
In  water-power  it  has  superior  advantages.  It  has  also  several  noted 
gold  mines.  The  waters  of  the  Catawba  River  provide  great  water- 
power,  long  utilized  for  manufacturing  purposes;  and,  lying  within  the 
cotton  belt,  a  stimulus  has  been  given  to  the  manufacture  of  cotton 
goods  to  such  extent  as  to  have  created  independence  of  the  rude  powers 
of  nature.  Numerous  factories,  operated  by  steam,  have  been  erected 
at  Mount  Holly,  Gastonia,  Stanley  Creek  and  other  points. 

Within  this  county  rises  the  eminence,  seen  far  and  wide,  of  Kings 
Mountain,  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and,  in  its  conse- 
quences, one  of  the  most  decisive  battles  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 

The  county  is  well  supplied  with  railroad  facilities.  The  Carolina 
Central  passes  through  it  from  south-east  to  north-west,  the  Chester  and 
Lenoir  Narrow  Gauge  from  noith  to  south,  and  the  Charlotte  and 
Atlanta  Air-Line  through  the  center  in  an  undulating  line  from  east 
to  west.  This  has  given  every  section  access  to  market,  and  has  stimu- 
lated industrial  activity  in  marked  degree,  resulting  in  the  building 
and  prosperit}'  of  a  number  of  towns  and  villages.  Among  these  are 
Dallas,  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  445;  Gastonia,  a  thriving 
manufacturing  town  on  the  Air-Line  road,  with  a  population  of  1,050; 
Mount  Holly,  475;  Lowell,  a  manufacturing  village,  with  about  the 
same  number. 

The  staple  crops  of  the  county  are  co'.ton,  wheat  and  corn;  and 
tobacco  has  been  successfully  tested  as  a  profitable  addition.  Fruits, 
and  especially  the  grape,  succeed  well. 

Gaston  County  has  226;519  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,482,963;  and 
539  town  lots,  valued  at  $160,535. 

Of  domeslic  animals  there  are — horses,  1 ,104 ;  mules,  1,185 ;  jacks  and 
jennies',  11;  goats,  42;  cattle,  5,104;  hogs,  8,204;  sheep,  3,800. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  uses,  $7,242.36;  pensions,  $1,028.64; 
schools,  $7,504.57;  county,  $8,298.31. 

Population— -white,  12,927;  colored,  4,837;  total,  17,764. 


140  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


GATES. 

Gates  County  lies  betw^een  the  Chowan  River  and  the  Dismal  Swamp, 
of  which  it  includes  a  considerable  section.  The  body  of  the  county 
consists  of  level  piny  uplands,  with  a  sandy  loam  soil.  It  has  a  narrow 
strip  of  ver}'  sandy  long-leaf  pine  land  near  the  Chowan  River,  and 
also  in  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  county.  Along  the  Chowan 
River  and  its  tributaries  are  tracts  of  cypress  swamp  from  one  to  two 
and  three  miles  wide.  Near  the  smaller  streams  are  narrow  tracts  of 
pine  and  oak  flats,  having  a  gray-clay  loam  soil.  Marl  is  found  in  tlie 
banks  of  the  Chowan  River  and  in  the  southern  end  of  the  county. 

The  Blackwater  River  (lower  down  assuming  the  name  of  Chowan), 
flowing  along  the  western  border,  a  deep,  tortuous  but  navigable  stream, 
used  by  steamboats  of  considerable  size  as  high  up  as  Franklin,  Va., 
has  added  greatly  to  the  business,  convenience  and  profit  of  the  inhab- 
itants, but  the  construction  of  a  railroad  across  the  county,  forming 
other  and  speedier  connections,  has  diminished  its  importance. 

The  products  of  the  county  are  those  of  the  section — cotton,  corn, 
wheat,  peas,  potatoes,  etc.;  and  an  increased  inducement  to  truck  farm- 
ing tends  to  give  new  character  to  the  agriculture  of  the  county. 

There  is  large  attention  given  to  timber,  lumber,  shingles  and  staves. 

Gatesville,  the  county  seat,  is  a  village  of  232  inhabitants. 

Gates  County  contains  193,434  acres  of  land,  valued  at  §014,121  ;  and 
45  town  lots,  valued  at  $29,290. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are— horses,  1,297;  mules,  521 ;  jacks  and 
jennies,  5;  goats,  839;  cattle,  5,501;  hogs,  12,5S2;  sheep,  2,270. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $2,818.33 ;  pensions,  $389.26; 
schools,  $4,053.81;  county,  $3,323.59. 

Population — white,  5,539;  colored,  4,713 ;  total,  10,252. 

GRAHAM. 

Graham  County,  lying  south  of  the  Tennessee  River,  is  bounded  on 
the  west  by  tlie  Smoky  Mountains,  which  separate  it  from  the  State  of 
Tennessee.  The  liver  of  the  same  name  separates  it  from  the  county 
of  Swain,  the  Long  Ridge  from  the  county  of  Cherokee,  and  a  high 
and  almost  precipitous  line  of  mountains  from  the  county  of  Macon. 
It  is  largely  isolated  on  account  of  difficulty  of  access,  and  therefore 
retains,  in  large  degree,  its  primeval  wildness.  The  surface  in  the  inte- 
rior of  the  county  is  intersected  with  numerous  streams,  tending  to  a 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES*  141 

union  with  the  Cheoah  River;  and  the  united  waters,  a  large,  bold 
stream,  flow  into  the  Tennessee.  Along  these  waters  are  stretches  of 
fertile  valley,  and  these  constitute  at  present  almost  all  the  land  reduced 
to  cultivation.  The  remainder  of  the  county  is  still  clothed  with  forest 
composed  of  all  the  varieties  of  trees  found  in  the  mountains,  and  of 
the  greatest  size.  This  forest  is  now  invaded  by  timber  cutters  from 
the  North-western  States,  who  avail  themselves  of  freshets  to  float  their 
logs  down  the  smaller  streams  into  the  Cheoah,  thence  into  the  Ten- 
nessee, down  which  they  float  through  the  mountain  rapids,  until  in 
calmer  w^aters  below^  they  are  caught  and  detained  in  booms. 

Agricultural  industry  is  limited  chiefly  to  domestic  uses,  difficult 
access  to  market  giving  little  reward  to  industry.  The  soil  everywhere 
is  fertile,  as  indicated  by  the  size  of  the  trees  and  density  of  the  for- 
ests. The  chief  remunerative  pursuit  of  the  inhabitants  is  in  the  rear- 
ing of  cattle  on  the  native  ranges,  from  which  they  are  driven  in  the 
fall,  to  be  transported  now  by  railroad  to  distant  markets. 

Robbinsville,  a  small  village,  is  the  county  seat. 

Graham  County  has  307,635  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $452,724;  and 
29  town  lots,  valued  at  $4,950. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  360  horses,  130  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  3,825  cattle,  3,705  hogs,  2,729  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use?,  $1,506.07;  pensions,  $213.07; 
schools,  $2,705.94 ;  county,  $2,801.05. 

Population — white,  3,137;  colored,  137;  Indians,  161;  total,  3,435. 

GRANVILLE. 

Granville  County  lies  on  the  Virginia  border,  and  is  drained  partly 
toward  the  north  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Roanoke  and  partly  (in  its 
middle  region)  by  the  Tar,  and  in  its  southern  portions  by  the  Neuse. 
In  its  central  and  higher  portions,  where  it  is  500  feet  above  tide,  it  is 
comparatively  level  and  rolling,  and  has  for  the  most  part  a  gray 
gravelly  loam  soil,  with  here  and  there  small  tracts  of  red  clay.  Among 
the  most  productive  soils  is  a  level  body  of  oak  and  hickory  land  in 
the  northern  section,  with  a  dark  gravelly  loam  soil.  Smaller  tracts  of 
similar  character  occur  near  the  middle,  and  also  on  the  southern  bor- 
der. The  southern  portion  of  the  county,  along  the  divide  between  the 
waters  of  the  Tar  and  Neuse  Rivers,  is  another  comparatively  level 
bench  of  land,  belonging  mainly  to  the  class  of  gray  sandy  loams, 
derived  in  large  part  from  the  underlying  Triassic  rocks  (red  sandstone). 


142  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

These  alternate  wiih  gray  gravelly  loams.  The  forests  are  of  oaks, 
hickory  and  dogwood,  intermingled  with  short-leaf  pine. 

The  principal  agricultural  product  of  this  county  is  the  gold-leaf 
tobacco.  The  gray  and  light-colored  granite  soils  of  the  eastern,  mid- 
dle and  western  sections,  as  well  as  the  last-named  (Triassic)  soils,  are 
noted  for  the  high  grade  of  tobacco  which  they  produce.  This  is  also 
a  large  grain-growing  county,  its  aggregate  reaching  nearly  750,000 
bushels.  Granville  has  long  been  conspicuous  for  its  leadership  in 
tobacco  culture,  and,  after  the  discovery  of  the  process  of  curing  the 
"  bright  leaf,"  for  a  long  time  had  no  equal  in  its  success  in  the  perfec- 
tion of  that  process,  the  result  being  a  substance  of  unrivalled  beauty 
and  surpassing  value.  The  high  prices  habitually  received  greatly 
advanced  the  value  of  lands  in  some  sections,  and  purchasers  of  such 
qualities  of  land  were  enabled  to  obtain  full  title  out  of  the  {)roceeds 
of  the  sale  of  a  single  crop.  'J'he  estimates  (for  they  are,  at  best,  only 
estimates)  of  the  census  investigation  of  1890  are  misleading,  and  only 
approximate  the  truth  in  giving  the  crop  of  1889  at  4,170,071  pounds. 
In  another  chapter  of  this  book,  statements  obtained  from  other  sources 
will  be  made  to  demonstrate  the  existence  of  a  much  larger  crop  for 
Granville,  as  well  as  for  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  Besides  tobacco, 
Granville  produces  some  cotton,  wheat,  corn  and  other  grains  and  fruils. 

Valuable  copper  ores  are  found  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county, 
and  recently  exceedingl}-  valuable  iron  ores  have  been  discovered  in 
the  south-eastern  section.  These  will  be  noticed  more  fully  in  the 
chapter  on  ores  and  minerals. 

Oxford,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population,  by  the  last  census,  of  2,097. 
It  is  the  center  of  an  active  tobacco  business,  both  in  manufacture  and 
sale,  the  warehouses,  of  which  there  are  several,  handling  yearly  from 
eight  to  ten  million  pounds.  Here  is  the  Orphan  Asylum,  supported 
jointly  by  the  Masonic  Fraternity  of  North  Carolina  and  by  the  State ; 
the  Baptist  Female  College,  and  Horner's  Classical  and  Military  School. 
Oxford  is  connected  with  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  Railroad  at  Hender- 
son, and  with  Richmond,  ^'a  ,  by  a  road  running  from  that  city  via 
Keysville,  Xa.,  to  Durham. 

Granville  County  contains  320,1  OS  acres  of  land,  valued  at  §1,770,907  ; 
and  520  town  lots,  valued  at  $925,712. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  2,075;  mules,  1,218;  jacks 
and  jennies,  10;  goats,  204;  cattle,  5,603;  hogs,  11,305;  sheep,  3,510. 

Pr  duct  of  taxation— for  State,  SI 0,221  :  pension^,  SI, 419.42  ;  schools, 
Sll,023  03;  county,  §15,537.88. 

Population— white,  12,122;  colored,  12,302;  total.  24,484. 


DESCRIPTION   OF   COUNTIES.  14! 


GREENE. 


The  small  county  of  Greene,  adjoining  Pitt  on  the  south,  and  drained 
by  the  Contentnea  (which  crosses  it  through  the  middle)  and  its  numer- 
ous tributaries,  has  the  same  general  features,  both  as  to  its  natural 
characteristics  and  as  to  the  development  of  its  agriculture,  as  Edge- 
combe County,  but  there  are  considerable  areas  of  sandy  pine  lands  and 
pine  flats  in  the  eastern  angle  and  in  the  southern  section.  Its  streams 
are  also,  for  the  most  part,  bordered  by  narrow  fringes  of  alluvial  land 
and  of  gum  and  cypress  swamps.  It  has  also  along  the  courses  of  some 
of  its  tributaries  considerable  tracts  of  semi-swamp  land,  characterized 
by  a  dark-gray  loam  of  great  fertility,  notably  Lousin  Swamp,  near  the 
soutliern  border.  Like  the  preceding  counties,  Greene  finds  marl  and 
compost  essential  to  successful  cotton  farming.  There  are  still  consid- 
erable areas  of  pine  and  cypress  timber  in  the  county. 

Much  of  the  land  of  Greene  is  suitable  to  cotton,  the  production  of 
which  is  between  8,000  and  10,000  bales  per  annum.  It  is  also  a  pro- 
ductive corn  county,  as  would  be  indicated  by  the  character  of  its  best 
lands,  reclaimed  from  swamps.  Peas,  potatoes,  rice  and  other  grains 
constitute  the  chief  crops.  Within  a  brief  period  tobacco  has  been 
found  worthy  of  cultivation,  soil  and  climate  both  inviting  to  ihe  pro- 
duction of  the  highest  grades.  The  Census  Report  gives  the  crop  of 
1889  at  6,650  pounds,  doubtless  be!ow  the  truth,  but  u  large  gain  over 
the  previous  decennial  report,  which  was  only  706  pounds. 

Greene  County  has  157,465  acres  of  land,  valued  at  ^1,055,511;  and 
163  town  lots,  valued  at  $81,107. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — h-rses,  830;  mules,  974;  goats,  1G9; 
cattle,  1,179;  hogs,  8,768;  sheep,  263. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $4,192.51;  pensions,  $599.86; 
schools,  $4,524.47;  county,  $8,716.19. 

Population— white,  5,281;  colored,  4,758;  total,  10,039. 

GUILFORD. 

Guilford  County  li(s  in  the  middle  of  the  midland  plateau,  and  near 
its  highest  part,  on  the  water-shed  between  the  Cape  Fear  and  Dan 
Rivers,  which  crosses  its  territory  nearly  midway  in  a  west  and  east 
direction  at  an  average  elevation  of  between  800  and  1,000  feet  above 
tide.  In  its  physical  characteristics  and  its  agricultural  features,  this 
county  may  be  taken  as  a  typical  average  of  this  region.     This  elevated 


144  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

swell  of  land  between  the  water-courses,  with  its  projections  at  right 
angles  between  the  main  tributaries  of  the  above  mentioned  rivers,  is 
characterized  by  quite  a  uniform  forest  growth  and  soil,  both  of  which 
may  be  taken  as  representative  of  these  features  for  the  major  part  of 
the  midland  division.  Its  forests  consist  mainly  of  oaks  of  various 
species  and  hickory,  with  a  subordinate  growth  of  short-leaf  pine  scat- 
tered quite  uniformly  over  most  of  its  area.  Along  its  river  and  creek 
bottoms,  which  are  in  many  parts  of  the  county  extensive,  and  in  the 
south-eastern  section  of  the  county,  even  on  the  uplands,  are  heavy 
forests  of  oak,  intermingled  with  hickory,  walnut,  poplar,  maple,  etc. 
These  lands  have  generally  a  reddish  clay  loam  soil.  The  soil  of  the 
higher  and  broad-backed  ridges  and  swells  is  quite  uniformly  a  3'el- 
lowish  sandy  and  gravelly  loam,  underlaid  by  a  yellow  and  red  clay 
subsoil.  The  cotton  zone  barely  touches  the  southern  border,  the  chief 
crops  of  the  county  consisting  of  grains  and  tobacco,  grown  mostly  in 
the  northern  half  of  the  county.  Gold,  copper  and  iron  are  found  in 
many  places,  and  have  been  mined  on  a  considerable  scale. 

The  county  of  Guilford  was  formed  in  1770  from  Rowan  and  Orange 
Counties,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Lord  North,  who  was  Earl  of 
Guilford.  In  1808  the  county  seat  was  removed  from  Martinsville  to 
Greensboro  (named  in  honor  of  General  Greene),  five  miles  south-east 
of  the  site  of  the  battle-ground.  This  battle-ground  was  the  site  of  the 
memorable  "battle  of  Guilford  Court  House,"  fought  on  the  15th  of 
March,  1781,  between  the  American  forces  under  Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene, 
and  those  of  the  British  under  Lord  Cornwallis,  the  latter  nominally 
victorious,  but  in  effect  defeated,  soon  abandoning  the  field  and  rapidly 
retreating  to  Wilmington,  thence  to  Yorktown,  Va.,  where  they  event- 
ually surrendered  to  General  Washington,  thus  closing  the  war  and 
securing  American  Independence.  A  monument  recently  erected  on 
the  battle-ground  commemorates  the  real  victory. 

In  addition  to  cotton  and  tobacco,  there  are  produced  corn,  wheat, 
oats,  rye,  and  clover  and  grass,  and  fruits  of  all  kinds  congenial  to 
the  climate.  Apples,  peaches,  pears,  quinces,  grapes,  plums,  apricots, 
nectarines,  cherries,  strawberries  and  melons  grow  in  richness  and  per- 
fection unsurpassed  in  any  latitude  outside  the  tropics.  The  dried  and 
green  fruit  industry  is  very  remunerative.  Not  less  than  1,115,000 
pounds  of  dried  fruits  are  annually  shipped  from  this  county. 

The  peculiar  adaptation  of  the  soil  and  climate  to  the  cultivation 
and  perfection  of  fruits  has  stimulated  the  special  industry  of  the  nur- 
sery business;  and  the  large  nurseries  near  Greensboro,  chiefly  the 
Pomona  Nurseries,  grow  more  fruit  and  vines  than  any  other  county 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  145 

in  the  South,  and  their  sales  extend  all  over  the  State  and  all  over  the 
South  and  West.  Tobacco,  within  the  past  ten  years,  has  doubled  in 
quantity  and  in  quality.  Even  the  unsatisfactory  estimate  shows  the 
comparison  between  1879  and  1889  to  be  422,716  pounds  for  the  former 
and  918,728  pounds  for  the  latter,  resulting  in  the  creation  of  an  impor- 
tant sales  market  and  well  established  factories  in  Greensboro. 

Manufacturing  establishments  are  diffused  throughout  the  county. 
Among  tJiese  are  two  cotton  faclories  at  Greensboro,  one  at  High  Point 
and  one  at  Gibsonville;  a  hosiery  factory  at  Greensboro,  two  foundrys, 
a  stave  factor}'^,  spoke  and  handle  factory,  and  various  other  establish- 
ments. In  addition  to  these  is  the  steel  and  iron  works  for  the  manu- 
facture of  pig-iron,  the  only  one  now  in  the  State,  which  will  soon  be 
in  operation.  Reference  to  this  will  be  made  subsequently.  There  are 
numerous  merchant  mills  in  the  county. 

Railroad  facilities  are  numerous,  and,  passing  through  Greensboro, 
constitute  it  an  important  railroad  centre.  The  Cape  Fear  and  Yad- 
kin Valley  Railroad,  passing  from  tide-water  to  the  mountains,  runs 
through  the  county  from  south-east  to  north-west,  and  goes  through 
eight  townships.  The  North  Carolina  Railroad,  passing  from  the  sea- 
board to  the  Tennessee  line,  runs  through  the  county  from  east  to  west, 
and  through  seven  townships.  The  Richmond  and  Danville  comes  in 
from  the  north,  runs  to  Gi'eensboro,  and  passes  through  three  town- 
ships. The  North-western  North  Carolina  Railroad  starts  at  Greensboro 
and  runs  west  through  three  townships. 

Greensboro,  the  county  seat,  situated,  as  above  stated,  at  the  focal 
point  of  several  railroads,  has  become  of  great  importance.  Its  popu- 
lation is  upw^ards  of  6,500  since  Morehead  has  been  added  to  the  wards 
north  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad.  It  has  large  hotels, 
churches,  a  female  college,  a  colored  college,  a  female  industrial  school 
nearly  completed,  waterworks,  gas  and  electric  lighting,  telephones,  etc. 

High  Point,  fifteen  miles  west  of  Greensboro,  has  a  population, 
including  High  Point  township,  of  3,481,  and  Jamestown  and  Oak 
Ridge  are  smaller  villages. 

Guilford  County  has  397,905  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $2,359,146;  and 
1,302  town  lots,  valued  at  $1,241,939. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  3,486;  mules,  1,483;  jacks 
and  jennies,  25;  goats,  50;  cattle,  10,752;  hogs,  12,739;  sheep,  6,741. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  uses,  $15,163.78;  pensions,  $1,967.39; 
schools,  $17,797.48;  county,  $14,539.65. 

Population— white,  19,820;  colored,  8,232;  total,  28,052. 

10 


146  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


HALIFAX. 


Halifax  County  lies  between  the  Roanoke  River  on  the  noith,  and 
Fishitjg  Creek,  one  of  the  confluents  of  the  Tar  River,  on  the  south. 
The  eastern  and  larger  part  of  this  county  belongs  to  the  normal  type 
of  upland  piuy  woods;  the  western  third  to  the  oak  uplands.  I.ong- 
leaf  and  short-leaf  pines  are  commonly  mingled  wiih  a  subordinate 
growth  of  oaks,  hickory,  dogwood,  etc.  The  surface  is  generally  level, 
or  a  little  rolhng,  with  small,  olten  abrupt,  hills  and  ravines  cear  the 
streams.  The  soil  is  a  gray  sandy  loam,  with  a  yellow  to  brown  sub- 
soil. The  creeks  and  larger  streams  nearly  all  fl^w  southward  into  the 
Tar  River,  the  water-shed,  according  to  a  curious  topograpliical  law 
previously  referred  to,  lying  quite  close  to  the  south  bank  of  the  Roan- 
oke. The  western  section  belongs  in  large  part  to  the  oak  uplaijds 
region,  having  its  characteristic  gray,  yellow  and  reddish  clay  loam  and 
sandy  loam  soils  and  rolling  surface,  and  predominant  oak  forests,  with 
an  intermixture  of  short-leaf  pine.  The  crops  of  this  section  are  largly 
grains  (corn,  wheat,  etc.)  and  tobacco.  The  bulk  of  the  cotton  product 
is  made  in  the  eastern  section.  The  streams  in  the  eastern  section  have 
often  narrow  swampy  tracts  of  gum  and  cypress  along  their  margins, 
but  there  are  extensive  alluvial  areas  or  bo  toms  on  the  larger  rivers, 
especially  the  Roanoke,  whose  bottoms  are  of  unsurpassed  fertility.  In 
the  great  bend  of  Scotland  Neck  are  some  of  the  finest  cotton  lands  of 
the  State.  Marl  is  abundant  in  the  middle  and  eastern  sections.  Hali- 
fax is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  cotton  counties,  and  produces  very 
large  crops  of  grains  besides,  chiefly  of  corn. 

Like  others  of  the  eastern  counties,  Halifax  has  largely  increased  the 
culture  of  tobacco,  the  quality  being  of  the  best.  In  1870  the  census 
return  gave  the  production  at  8,427  pounds;  in  1889  at  90,714  pounds 

The  work  of  the  Roanoke  Navigation  Company,  embiaced  chiefly  in 
a  canal  from  Gaston  to  VVeldon,  overcominij:  the  succession  of  rapids 
between  those  points  from  navigable  water  above  to  steamboat  naviga- 
tion below,  is  now  owned  by  a  company  which  has  opened  the  canal 
so  as  to  avail  itself  of  water-power  for  manufacturing  purposes,  event- 
ually to  obtain  such  power  as  will  be  unequaled  in  the  United  States. 

Tlie  county  of  Halifax  has  every  needed  facility  attained  by  railroads, 
the  first  railroads  in  North  Carolina  extending  from  points  in  this  county 
to  the  then  chief  towns  in  this  State  and  the  leading  commercial  towns 
in  Virginia.  The  Raleigh  and  Gaston  road  was  begun  in  1830,  and 
completed  to  Raleigh,  and  also  connected,  l\y  a  road  to  Belfield,  \a., 
with  the  line  built  in  1833  from  Blakely,  in  NorthamjUon  County,  to 
Petersburg,  Va.;  and  the  Wilmington  and  Wehion  road,  also  begun  in 
1836,  and  completed  to  Wilmington,  was  also  early  connected  with 
Portsmouth, \'a., by  theSeaboard  and  Roanoke, extending  from  Weldon, 
from  which  point  also  connection  was  made  with  Petersburg  by  addition 
to  the  road  built  to  Bl  kely.  Subsequently,  a  road  (a  branch  of  the 
Wilminj^ton  and  Weldon  road)  was  built  to  Scotland  Neck,  and  this 
has  recently  been  extended  to  Kinston,  thus  making  two  nearly  par- 


DESCRIPTION    OF   COUNTIES.  147 

allel  lines  belonging  to  that  comj)any,  and  adding  very  greatly  to  the 
prosperity  of  Halifax  County. 

Halifax,  the  county  seat  of  Halifax  County,  is  situated  on  the  Roan- 
oke River,  a  town  of  great  historic  interest,  but  now  of  small  impor- 
tance. It  has  a  population  of  312.  Scotland  Neck,  growing  into  con- 
sequence since  the  war,  has  776;  Enfield,  563;  Littleton,  303;  Weldon, 
1,216;  and  Ringwood  and  Brinkleyville  are  small  but  interesting  vil- 
lages. 

Halifax  County  has  400,185  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,S94,643;  and 
1,138  town  lots,  valued  at  $489,900. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,92G;  mules,  ],523;  jacks 
and  jennies,  3;  goats,  194;  cattle,  G,692 ;  hogs,  11,013;  sheep,  2,552. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $9,212.50;  pensions,  $1,297.33; 
schools,  $12,505;  county,  $10,006.08. 

Population— white,  9,614;  colored,  19,924;  total,  23,908. 

HARNETT. 

Harnett  County  lies  on  both  sides  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  on  the 
north-western  margin  of  the  long-leaf  pine  belt.  Near  the  river,  and 
for  several  miles  on  both  sides,  its  surface  is  quite  hilly  in  its  upper 
portion,  and  here  the  soil  is  of  the  intermediate  character  described  as 
oak  and  pine  sandy  and  gravelly  hills.  On  the  tops  of  the  ridges  and 
river  hills  these  soils  are  gray  sand}^  loams,  but  on  the  slopes  they 
approach  the  character  of  clay  loams,  and  are  covered  mainly  with 
forests  of  oak  and  short-leaf  pine.  The  body  of  the  county  belongs 
strictly  to  the  long-leaf  pine  belt,  and  has  the  general  characteristics  of 
that  region.  The  western  section,  as  well  as  a  narrow  belt  in  the  mid- 
dle, near  the  south  bank  of  the  river  and  some  portions  of  the  south 
side,  partakes  in  part  of  the  character  of  the  pine  barrens.  Near  the 
river,  and  along  its  principal  tributaries  from  the  west,  and  in  the  angles 
between  these  and  the  river,  are  wide  trads  of  gray,  clayey,  silty  lands 
(oak  and  pine  flats)  and  occasional  narrow  strips  of  gum  and  cj'press 
swamp.  Cotton  production  is  the  principal  industr}'  of  the  county,  but 
grain,  lumber  and  turpentine  are  also  important  products. 

The  Cape  Fear  River  passes  through  the  county,  but  it  affords  no 
facilities  for  navigation,  except  in  giving  pass:ige  during  high  water  to 
rafts  of  timber  and  lumber. 

The  branch  of  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad  from  Wilson 
to  Florence,  S.  C,  by  way  of  Fayelteville,  passes  through  the  .county, 
and  has  greatly  stimulated  industrial  activity,  several  thriving  and 
busy  towns  having  been  built  along  the  line,  and  the  agricultural  and 
naval  store  interest  greatly  stimulated. 

Lillington  is  the  county  seat,  a  small  village.  Dunn,  on  the  line  of 
the  "Short-cut"  Railroad,  is  the  largest  and  the  most  important  busi- 
ness point.     It  probably  contains  600  inhabitants. 

Harnett  County  contains  346,677  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $75S,450 ; 
and  442  town  lots,  valued  at  $67,236. 


148  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  759 ;  mules,  883  ;  goals,  2,082  ; 
cattle,  6,943;  hogs,  18,124;  sheep,  4,760. 

Product  of  taxation  — for  State  uses,  $3,476.28;  pensions,  1543.89; 
schools,  $5,463.78  ;  county,  $4,208.25. 

Population — white,  0,453  ;  colored,  4,247;  total,  13,700. 

HAYWOOD. 

This  large  and  beautiful  county  is  as  remarkable  for  the  long  extent 
of  its  mountain  ranges  and  the  height  of  its  numerous  peaks  as  it  is  for 
the  extent  of  its  valley  S3''stem  and  the  fertility  of  its  soil.  The  Pisgah 
range  skirts  it  partly  on  the  east,  culminating  in  the  pyramidal  cone  of 
Pisgah  Mountain,  rising  to  the  height  of  5,750  feet.  This  range,  inter- 
rupted by  a  depression  of  several  miles,  is  continued  by  the  New  Found 
range,  extended  to  the  Tennessee  line.  A  spur  or  range  projects  north- 
ward between  the  East  and  West  Forks  of  Pigeon  River,  the  highest 
peak  of  which  is  Cold  Mountain,  rising  to  the  height  of  6,063  feet. 
Along  the  western  border  extends  the  massive  line  of  the  Balsam  Moun- 
tains, in  this  count  V  attaining  their  greatest  elevation.  Here  are  fifteen 
peaks  of  more  than  6,000  feet  in  height.  Richland  Balsnm  is  6,425  feet 
high,  and  Double  Spring  Balsam  is  6,380  feet.  The  Western  North 
Carolina  Railroad,  by  the  Murphy  branch,  crosses  this  range  at  Scott's 
Creek  Gap,  at  an  elevation  of  3,357  feet. 

The  mountain  lands,  except  on  the  summits  of  the  higher  ranges, 
which  are  densely  wooded  with  the  balsam  fir,  are  very  fertile.  The 
sides  and  summits  of  the  lower  ridges,  when  cleared,  prove  adapted  by 
nature  to  the  production  of  grasses  in  great  luxuriance.  Herds  grass, 
timothy,  red-top  and  clover  take  readily  to  the  soil.  Within  the  last 
two  years  the  genuine  Kentucky  blue  grass  has  appeared  spontaneously, 
as  did  the  lespidcza,  or  Japan  clover,  and  will  greatly  add  to  the  value 
of  the  mountain  pa.stures.  Stock-rai.sing  is  followed  to  considerable 
extent,  and  efforts  are  made  to  improve  the  value  of  the  breeds.  Sheep 
thrive,  but  are  mostly  of  native  breed,  with  little  general  effort  at 
improvement.  In  the  deeper  mountain  recesses  their  increase,  and 
even  their  existence,  is  controlled  by  the  presence  of  wolves,  which  are 
found  in  considerable  numbers. 

Fruits  grow  to  great  ])erfection,  and  tlie  apples  of  Flaywood  are 
famous  all  over  the  mountain  ree:ions. 

Tobacco,  in  portions  of  the  county,  has  become  an  important  article 
of  industry,  and  the  superiority  of  the  product  must  tend  to  the  increase 
of  culture,  the  bright  yellow  tobacco  proving  little  inferior  to  that  of 
Granville,  while  the  darker  grades  have  characteristics  in  common  with 
the  famous  Henry  County  tobacco  of  Virginia.  The  northern  section 
of  the  county  is  best  adapted  to  the  successful  culture  of  tobacco. 

In  mineral  wealth  there  has  been  no  development,  except  in  mica, 
which  has  been  worked  to  considerable  extent  at  Micadale,  near  Waynes- 
ville.  Gold,  copper,  iron,  lead,  asbestos  and  other  minerals  are  known 
to  exist,  but  no  mines  are  worked. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  149 

The  mountains  are  clothed  to  their  summits  with  forests  of  a  great 
range  of  species.  On  the  lower  slopes  and  in  the  rich  coves,  besides 
the  usual  characteristic  oaks,  hickories,  cucumbers,  poplar,  chestnut, 
etc.,  are  found  in  abundance  walnut,  black  locust,  cherry  and  ash,  and 
a  little  higher  sugar  maple,  linden,  black  birch  and  beech,  and  on  the 
highest  ranges  two  species  of  fir.  Since  the  advt-nt  of  the  railroad, 
lumbering  is  rapidly  becoming  an  important  industry. 

Waynesville  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  given  by  the  census 
of  18U0  at  455.  It  is  finely  situated  in  the  valley  of  Richland  Creek, 
overtopped  by  some  of  the  grandest  summits  of  the  Balsam  Mountains. 
It  is  a  noted  summer  resort,  and  in  the  vicinity  are  the  White  Sulphur 
Springs,  equipped  with  a  commodious  hotel  surrounded  with  ample 
grounds.  The  Murphy  branch  of  the  Western  North  Carolina  Rail- 
road passes  through  Waynesville. 

Clyde,  a  thriving  village,  and  Pigeon  River  town,  both  on  the  rail- 
road, are  growing  towns. 

Haywood  Countv  has  268,408  acres  of  land,  valued  at  §990,252;  and 
199  town  lots,  valued  at  $95,112. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are— horses,  J, 748;  mules,  676;  jacks  and 
jennies,  19;  goats,  24;  cattle,  10,393;  hogs,  12,663;  sheep,  6,888. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  uses,  $4,210.14;  pensions,  $640.37; 
schools,  $5,861.10;  county,  $10,052.40. 

Population— white,  12,829;  colored,  517;  total,  13,346. 

HENDERSON. 

Henderson  County  is  a  continuation  southward  of  the  French  Broad 
valley  described  in  Buncombe  Count}',  and  its  topographical  features 
are  very  similar,  except  that  there  are  broader  areas  of  comparatively 
level  and  undulating  lands,  but  of  less  fertility,  the  soils  being  predomi- 
nantly light  gray  gravelly  loams,  and  its  forests  being  mixed  growths 
of  oak  and  pine,  with  hemlock  and  chestnut.  Near  the  water-courses 
in  the  mountain  coves  are  found  walnut,  cherry,  maple  and  occasion- 
ally white  pine. 

This  county  is  divided  by  the  Blue  Ridge  into  two  unequal  parts,  a 
considerable  portion  of  it  lying  on  the  south,  on  the  South  Carolina 
line,  and  on  the  east  bounded  by  Polk  County,  being  in  the  Piedmont 
Section.  The  remainder,  or  mountain  plateau,  is  bordered  on  the  east 
and  south  by  the  same  range,  and  intersected  at  wide  intervals  by  low 
ranges  of  mountains  extending  toward  the  north-west,  it  is  closed  in 
by  the  Pisgah  range,  the  peak  of  that  name  being  the  common  centre 
for  the  county  lines  of  Henderson,  Transylvania,  Buncombe  and  Hay- 
wood. 

The  county  is  intersected  by  numerous  streams.  Green  River,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  flows  eastward  between  that  range  and  the 
Saluda  Mountains,  and  is  an  affluent  of  the  Broad  River,  flowing  south- 
into  South  Carolina.  The  French  Broad  flows  through  the  nortli-west- 
ern  part  of  the  county,  and,  receiving  the  waters  of  Mills  River,  Mud 
Creek  and  other  considerable  streams,  becomes  a  bold,  broad  stream, 


150  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

which,  by  appropriations  from  the  Govern nicnt,  has  been  made  navi- 
gable for  small  steamboats. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  this  county  is  the  apparent  great  depression 
of  its  surface,  and  the  width  of  the  valleys  along  the  streams,  assuming, 
as  on  Mud  Creek,  the  character  of  wide  swamps.  The  whole  interior 
of  the  county  presents  the  aspect  of  one  valley,  into  which  project,  like 
elongated  promontories,  small  ranges  of  mountains.  Looking  north- 
west from  Hendersonville,  the  eye  sweeps  over  a  level  expanse  of  twenty 
miles,  closed  at  that  distance  by  the  Pisgah  range.  This  depression, 
however,  is  apparent  rather  than  real,  the  most  depressed  portions  being 
above  the  mean  level  of  the  Blue  Ridge  plateau,  2,250  feet,  and  pre- 
senting the  appearance  of  a  broad  uplifted  valley. 

The  soil  ot  this  count}^  is  good,  though  not  so  fertile  as  other  moun- 
tain counties,  with  the  exception  of  the  valleys,  which  are  productive 
in  grains  and  grass.  Fruits  are  abundant  and  excellent.  The  mineral 
wealth  of  the  county  is  not  great.  Limestone  of  excellent  quality  for 
the  kiln  is  found  on  the  west  side  of  the  French  Broad,  and  is  largely 
burned  for  the  Asheville  market. 

The  agricultural  industry  of  the  county  is  quite  largely  directed  to 
the  cultivation  of  cabbage  and  other  vegetables  for  the  Southern  mar- 
ket, and  much  attention  is  given  to  the  canning  of  fruits  and  vegeta- 
bles. Among  the  minerals  found  in  this  county  is  zircon,  found  in 
large  deposits  in  the  valley  of  Green  River,  and  exhumed  in  large 
quantities  to  be  used  in  Germany  in  connection  with  gas  fixtures.  This, 
perhaps,  is  the  largest  deposit  of  this  mineral  in  the  United  States. 

Hendersonville,  the  county  seat,  is  credited  with  a  population  of 
1,216.  This  town  is  a  noted  summer  resort  for  the  citizens  of  South 
Carolina  and  other  Southern  States.  It  is  reached  by  railroad,  the 
Asheville  and  Spartanburg  line  passing  through  it.  Two  miles  south 
of  Hendersonville  is  Flat  Rock,  originally  a  summer  settlement  of 
wealthy  South  Carolinians,  who  surrounded  themselves  with  ample 
ornamental  grounds  and  erected  handsome  dwellings.  It  is  also  a  gen- 
eral summer  resort,  a  spacious  hotel  being  always  open. 

Henderson  County  has  188,G85  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $989,996; 
and  655  town  lots,  valued  at  $256,035. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,056;  mules,  521 ;  jacks  and 
jennies,  8;  goats,  100;  cattle,  7,184;  hogs,  0,698;  sheep,  5,740. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $4,639.43;  pensions,  $655.50; 
schools,  $5,093.08;  county,  $11,887. 

Population— white,  11,211;  colored,  1,378;  total,  12,589. 

HERTFORD. 

Hertford  County  lies  on  the  northern  border  of  the  State, "^ and  is 
boundfd  eastward  by  the  Chowan  River.  The  soils  are,  for  the  most 
part,  of  the  general  region  of  upland  piny  woods  lands,  but  near  the 
water-courses  there  are  considerable  tracts  of  oak  and  pine  flats  and 
alluvial  land.  Along  the  margin  of  the  Chowan  and  some  of  the  other 
water-courses  are  fringes  of  gum  and  cypress  swamp.     Marl  in  abun- 


DESCEIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  151 

dance  underlies  the  surface.  Besides  the  culture  of  cotton  and  corn, 
there  are  the  ilsh,  lumber  and  naval  stores  industries.  Cotton,  lumber 
and  other  products  are  shipped  by  steamer  and  rail  to  Norfolk. 

Until  recently  this  county  has  been  without  railroad  facilities,  depend- 
ing for  transportation  on  the  Meherriii  and  Chowan  Rivers,  which  flow 
through  it  or  along  its  borders.  Now  the  Norfolk  and  Carolina  Rail- 
road, extending  southwardly  to  Tarboro,  and  a  branch  road  giving 
connection  with  Murfreesboro,  have  been  provided. 

Murfreesboro  is  the  most  populous  town  in  the  count}^  with  a  popu- 
lation of  674,  and  is  the  seat  of  a  flourishing  female  college. 

Winton,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  419. 

Hertford  County  has  207,241  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $990,984;  and 
421  town  lots,  valued  at  |192,309. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,356;  mules,  679;  jacks  and 
jennies,  2;  cattle,  4,154;  hogs,  11,975;  sheep,  2,404;  goats,  377. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  uses,  $5,366.25;  pensions,  $753.31; 
schools,  $7,928.74;  county,  $4,045.90. 

Population — white,  5,906;  colored,  7.945;  total  13,851. 

HYDE. 

Hyde  County  is  enveloped  by  sounds  and  great  bay-like  rivers,  and 
its  middle  portion  is  occupied  by  a  large  lake,  Mattamuskeet,  twenty 
miles  in  length  and  six  miles  wide,  with  two  other  lakes  in  its  northern 
portion.  Two-thirds  of  its  land-surface  is  occupied  by  the  great  Alli- 
gator Swamp.  A  narrow  fringe  of  from  one  to  two  miles  width  around 
the  central  lake  is  the  highest  portion  of  the  county,  and  is  from  six  to 
ten  feet  above  tide.  It  was  originally  covered  with  a  heavy  swamp 
growth  of  cypress,  gum  (tupelo),'  maple,  ash,  etc.  These  lands  have 
been  cultivated  for  a  century,  and  still  produce  fifty  bushels  of  corn  to 
the  acre,  without  manure  or  rotation.  This  ridge  slopes  off  in  every 
direction  from  the  lake — eastward  into  a  tract  of  oak  flats  which  extends 
to  the  sound.  The  south-western  portion  of  the  county  is  within  the  pro- 
jecting arms  of  Pungo  River,  and  other  bays  from  Pamlico  Sound,  and 
may  also  be  described  as  oak  flats,  with  a  soil  which,  in  general  terms, 
is  a  gray  silty  loam,  an  admirable  wheat  soil.  The  northern  portion  of 
this  county,  throughout  its  whole  extent  from  east  to  west,  is  a  low- 
lying  savannah  or  peaty  cypress  and  juniper  swamp,  like  the  Great 
Dismal,  called  Alligator  Swamp.  The  productions  of  this  county  are 
chiefly  corn,  w^heat  and  cotton,  to  which  has  been  added  rice.  Lum- 
bering and  fishing  complete  the  list  of  its  industries. 

The  exhaustless  fertility  of  the  lands  of  Hyde,  affected  neither  by 
heat  nor  drought,  have  made  them  an  assured  granary,  out  of  which 
the  needs  of  other  places  may  be  always  supplied;  and  a  large  number 
of  coasting  vessels  make  numerous  trips  to  Charleston,  Wilmington, 
New  Bern  and  other  markets.  In  the  damp  soils  on  the  borders  of 
Mattamuskeet  Lake  originated  one  of  the  best  flavored  and  possibly 
the  best  keeping  winter  apple  know^n — the  Mattamuskeet — perfecting 
best  in  its  original  home,  but  doing  well  elsewhere. 

The  remarkable  character  of  the  soil  of  Hyde  County,  its  fertility 


152  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

and  its  unchangeab'e  qualities,  led  Professor  Emmons,  a  former  State 
Geologist,  to  the  following  observations: 

"Some  tracts  have  been  cultivated  over  a  centur}',  and  the  crops 
appear  to  be  equally  as  good  as  they  were  at  an  early  period  of  their 
culture,  and  yet  no  manure  has  been  employed,  and  they  have  been 
under  culture  in  Indian  corn  every  year,  or  what  would  be  equivalent 
thereto.  If  this  crop  has  been  omitted,  wheat  has  been  substituted  for 
it — not  because  they  are  properly  wheat  soils,  but  if  they  are  unculti- 
vated the  weeds  acquire  a  size  that  it  is  impossible  to  cover  them  the 
next  year.  The  same  difficulty  occurs,  in  part,  in  the  culture  of  corn. 
The  stalks  are  so  numerous  and  large  that  it  is  difficult  to  bury  them 
so  completely  that  they  shall  be  concealed  and  preserve  at  the  same 
time  an  even,  handsome  surface.  The  peculiarities  of  the  soil  of  Hyde 
County  are  comprised  in  two  particulars:  First,  the  large  quantity  of 
vegetable  matter  they  contain;  second,  the  extreme  fineness  of  the 
intermixed  earthy  matter.  The  earthy  matter  is  invisible  in  conse- 
quence of  its  fineness  and  evenly  distributed  through  the  mass.  An 
inspection  of  it  even  under  a  common  lens  would  deceive  most  persons, 
and  they  would  be  led  to  infer  that  it  was  entirely  absent.  Unlike  other 
soils,  it  contains  no  coarse  visible  particles  of  sand,  and  hence  it  appears 
that  during  the  growth  of  the  vegetables,  whicli  cover  at  least  one-half 
of  the  soil,  it  was  subjected  to  frequeut  oveifiows  of  muddy  water,  or 
else  the  area  over  which  these  peculiar  soils  prevail  was  usually  a  mirey 
swamp  which  communicated  M'ith  streams  that  brought  over  with  it 
the  finest  sediment  of  some  distant  region.  This  sediment  is  frequently 
a  fine  grit,  and  fine  enough  for  hones,  and  when  the  vegetable  is  burnt 
otr  it  appears  a  light  drab  color.  The  character  of  the  Hyde  Counts- 
soil  has  never  been  understood.  The  cause  of  its  fertility  has  never 
been  explained,  and  many  persons  who  are  good  judges  of  lands  have 
over-rated  the  value  of  swamp  lands  in  consequence  of  the  close  exter- 
nal resemblance  they  have  borne  to  those  of  Hyde.  Analysis,  however, 
will,  in  every  case,  detect  the  difference  in  the  common  swamp  lands 
and  those  of  Hyde.  The  color  is  black  or  dark  brown,  and  the  whole 
mass  near  the  surface  looks  as  if  it  was  composed  entirely  of  vegetable 
matter.  We  see  no  particles  of  sand  or  soil  in  it.  On  the  sides  and 
bottoms  of  the  ditches  a  light  gray  or  ashy  soil  is  discernable;  indeed, 
it  is  regarded  as  ashes,  and  is  so  called,  and  is  supj)Osed  to  have  been 
formed  Vjy  the  combustion  of  ancient,  beds  of  vegetable  matter.  The 
cultivated  lands  of  Hyde  are  not  chafiy — that  is,  when  dry,  like  timber, 
liable  to  take  fire  from  a  spark  originated  by  a  gun-wad.  There  are,  it 
is  true,  tracts  lying  in  connection  with  them  of  this  characler,  which 
are  quite  limited,  Ijut  their  occurrence  does  not  atfect  this  general  char- 
acteristic.'' 

Hyde  County  has  240,231  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $522,378;  and  78 
town  lots,  valued  at  $13,405 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1.328;  mules,  ISO:  goats,  100; 
cattle,  G,G24  ;  hogs,  9,753;  sheep,  2,067. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  uses,  $2,638.35;  pensions,  S404.98; 
schools,  $3,708.40:  countv,  $3,658.25. 

Population— white.  4,962;  colored,  3,041  :  total  8,903. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  153 


IREDELL. 

Iredell  is  a  county  of  rolling  uplands,  and  lies  on  the  waters  of  the 
Catawba  on  the  west,  and  of  the  Yadkin  on  the  east,  being  mainly 
drained  by  the  latter.  It  is  divided  in  a  north-westerly  and  south- 
easterly direction,  by  the  course  of  the  tributary  streams,  into  broad, 
flattish,  elevated  zones,  the  summits  of  which  have  generally  a  gray 
and  yellow  loam  soil,  with  mixed  oak  and  pine  forests  and  occasional 
tracts  of  red-clay  oak-covered  soils,  while  along  the  streams,  which 
abound  in  alluvial  bottoms,  fores's  of  oak,  walnut,  hickory,  etc.,  pre- 
dominate. One  of  these  high  swells  or  divides  lies  along  and  quite 
close  to  the  course  of  the  Catawba  River,  and  has  an  elevation  of  900 
feet  in  its  southern  portion,  rising  to  1,000  feet  and  upward  at  its  north- 
ern limit.  The  average  elevation  of  the  county  is  but  little  below  1,000 
feet  above  sea-level. 

The  cotton  crop  has  increased  tenfold  since  1870,  and  is  confined 
mainly  to  the  southern  half,  this  form  of  agriculture  having  only 
recently  passed  beyond  the  middle  of  the  county.  The  northern  sec- 
tion produces  tobacco  as  as  its  chief  market  crop,  but  corn  and  the 
small  grains  occupy  the  larger  portion  of  the  tilled  surface  of  the  county, 
and  aggregate  more  than  800,000  bushels. 

The  tobacco  crop  is  greater  than  indicated  by  the  census  figures, 
which  place  the  crop  of  1889  at  199,758  pounds — less  than  that  of  1879. 
The  largely  increased  business  in  Statesville,  both  in  sales  and  manu- 
factures, indicate  an  error,  which  our  own  Sta'e  returns  do  not  correct. 

Iredell  County  has  good  railroad  facilities,  the  Western  North  Caro- 
lina Kaih'oad  passing  through  it,  and  the  Atlantic,  Tennessee  and  Ohio 
Railroad  connecting  it  with  Charlotte  on  the  south,  and  another  branch 
line  of  twenty-five  miles  with  Taylorsville  on  the  north.  With  its  varie- 
ties of  soil  and  of  products,  its  water-power  and  conveniences  for  manu- 
facture, the  whole  county  is  undergoing  rapid  development  and  improve- 
ment. 

Statesville,  the  county  seat,  on  the  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad, 
has  a  population  of  2,318.  It  has  a  United  States  public  building,  a 
female  college,  manufactories  of  various  kinds,  and  is  prosperous. 

Iredell  County  has  362,610  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,858,014;  and 
829  town  lots,  valued  at  $600,652. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  2,795;  mules,  2,141;  jacks 
and  jennies,  24;  goats,  48;  cattle,  8,334;  ho^s,  13,667;  sheep,  4,509. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $10,239.74;  pensions,  $1,378.51 ; 
schools,  110,674.27;  county,  $11,545.()0. 

Population— white,  19,5l6;  colored,  5,946  ;  total,  25,462. 

JACKSON. 

Jackson  County  extends  from  South  Carolina  on  the  south  nearly 
across  the  State,  being  separated  by  the  narrow  county  of  Swain  from 
the  State  of  Tennessee.     The  general  form  is  one  broad  valley,  lying 


154  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

between  the  Balsam  Mountains  on  tlie  east  and  the  Cowee  Mountains 
on  the  west.  But  the  term  valley  would  convey  an  erroneous  idea,  since 
the  space  between  these  two  dominant  ranges  is  filled  with  numerous 
cross  chains,  making  the  mountain  character  predominant,  while  the 
valleys  are  exceptional. 

Little  encroachment  has  yet  been  made  on  ihe  massive  forests  which 
clothe  the  hills  and  mountains.  Nowhere  in  the  mountain  country  is 
the  timber  more  varied  in  kind  or  more  majestic  in  size. 

With  the  exception  of  the  high  plateau  at  the  south  end  of  the  county, 
where  Cashier's  Valley  is  situated,  and  where  the  soil  is  light  and  some- 
what thin,  the  soil  is  of  great  fertility,  remarkable  for  the  high  percent- 
age of  productive  arable  lands. 

'I  he  usual  crops  and  fruits  of  the  mountain  section  thrive  luxuriantly. 
Tobacco  is  found  to  be  well  adapted  to  both  soil  and  climate,  and  its 
culture  is  increasing. 

This  county  is  very  rich  in  minerals,  though  there  has  been  little 
development  of  quantity  or  value.  Several  copper  veins  of  ascertained 
richness  have  been  opened.  Chromic  iron  is  found  in  large  quantities 
near  Webster.  Nickel  ores,  or  genthites,  are  found  in  the  same  locality. 
Other  ores  of  iron  are  abundant.  Mica,  asbestos  and  corundum  are 
also  abundant. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  county,  along  the  Tuckaseege  River  and 
along  the  waters  of  Soco  Creek,  is  an  Indian  reservation  inhabited  by 
families  of  Cherokee?,  who  are  aleo  distributed  through  the  adjacent 
counties  of  Swain  and  Graham.  The  whole  number  in  these  counties 
is  nearly  fifteen  hundred.  They  have  adopted  the  habits  of  the  white 
men,  and  are  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  They  have  their  schools 
and  churches,  and  are  under  the  guardianship  of  their  chief,  James 
Blythe,  an  educated  and  intelligent  native. 

The  county  is  now  inter.sected  by  the  Western  North  Carolina  Rail- 
road; and  from  Sylva,  a  station  on  that  road,  a  branch  line  has  been 
constructed  to  Webster,  the  county  seat. 

Among  the  mineral  substances  applied  to  use  is  kaolin,  found  in  great 
abundance  near  the  valleys  of  Scott's  and  Savannah  Creeks,  and  pre- 
pared for  the  use  of  potteries  and  porcelain  works  at  Sylva  and  Dills- 
boro.     The  manufactured  product  is  very  beautiful. 

Cattle-raising  in  tlie  mountain  ranges  engages  the  industry  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  large  numbers  of  animals  are  annually  diiven  to 
market. 

Webster,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  200.  Sylva  and  Dills- 
boro  are  fiourishing  villages  on  the  line  of  railroad. 

Jackson  County  has  317,280  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $001,071  ;  and 
135  town  lots,  valued  at  §37,055. 

Of  domestic  animals  it  has — horses,  1,1G3;  mules,  331;  jacks  and 
jennie-s,  10;  goats,  22:  cattle,  8,113;  hogs,  12,390;  sheep,  6,100. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $2,427.03 ;  pensions,  $373.37 ; 
schools,  $3,121  20;  county,  $3,203.30. 

Population— white,  8,630;  colored,  528:  Indians,  375;  total,  9,512. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  155 


JOHNSTON. 

Johiision  County  lies  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Neuse  Kiver  and 
its  larger  tributaries,  which  traverse  it  in  a  south-east  direction,  and 
consist-^,  tor  the  most  part,  of  level  and  gently  rolling  piny  uplands, 
with  a  few  small  bodies  of  more  sand}^  and  barren  pine  lands.  It  lies 
on  the  western  margin  of  the  long-leaf  pine  region,  its  south-eastern 
half  being  characterized  in  its  general  features  by  the  same  soils  and 
growth  as  the  average  of  that  belt,  while  along  the  north-western  mar- 
gin the  lands  are  more  hilly,  and  the  piny  belts  are  alternated  along 
the  streams  and  more  hilly  portions  with  oak  and  pine  forests  and 
gravelly  loam  soils.  There  are  tracts  of  quite  sandy  soil  in  the  eastern 
section,  while  in  the  middle  section  are  large  bodies  of  pine  flats. 

Johnston  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  counties,  a.s,  besides  its  large 
cotton  crop,  the  grain  product  reaches  nearly  500,000  bushels,  and  its 
crop  of  potatoes  exceeds  200,000  bushels.  Cotton  is  the  principal  crop 
of  the  county,  and  prospers  in  almost  all  parts  of  the  county,  especially 
on  the  broad  belts  of  bottom  lands  lying  along  the  Neuse  Kiver,  Swift 
Creek  and  other  streams. 

The  county  is  traversed  from  east  to  west  by  the  North  Carolina 
Railroad,  from  north  to  south  by  the  "Short-cut"  line  from  Wilson  to 
Florence,  S.  C,  and  is  penetrated  by  the  Midland  Railroad,  extending 
from  Goldsboro  to  Smith  field,  a  distance  of  twenty- five  miles.  The 
navigation  of  the  Neuse  River  has  been  opened  as  far  as  Smithfield  for 
steamboats,  but  is  not  kept  regularly  open,  and  the  markets  are  sought 
through  the  railroads. 

Smithfield  is  the  county  seat,  and  has  a  population  of  550.  Clayton 
has  a  population  of  478,  Selma  of  527,  Boon  Hill  of  243,  and  Pine  Level 
of  264.     All  those  last  mentioned  are  on  the  North  Carolina  Railroad. 

Johnston  Countv  has  483,295  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $2,234,344;  and 
810  town  lots,  valued  at  $245,790. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,623;  mules,  2,002;  jacks 
and  jennies,  8;  goats,  3,198;  cattle,  10,682;  hogs,  37,651;  sheep,  7,225. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $9,861.66;  pensions,  $1,458.16; 
schools,  $13,898.67;  county,  $11,676.59. 

Population— white,  19,917;  colored,  7,322 ;  total,  27,239. 

JONES. 

The  great  tract  of  swamp  land  which  lies  between  the  Neuse  River 
and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  extends  through  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  two  preceding  counties,  projects  westward  into  Jones  County,  where 
it  reaches  its  highest  elevation  of  forty  feet,  and  is  crowned  b}'  a  chain 
of  small  lakes  of  from  one  to  three  or  four  miles  in  diameter  on  the 
summit,  on  the  border  of  Jones  and  Carteret  Counties.  The  northern 
border  of  the  county  is  occupied  by  a  portion  of  the  great  Dover  Poco- 
son,  which  projects  into  it  from  Craven.  In  its  middle  and  southern 
sections  lies  a  great  part  of  the  great  White  Oak  Swamp,  the  central 


156  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

portion  of  which  is  also  a  pocoson,  but  it  is  margined  about  with  fringes 
of  canebrake  lands,  white-oak  flats  and  cranberry  marshes,  as  well  as 
by  considerable  tracts  of  swamp  lands  covered  with  oak,  cy|)re&s,  gum, 
poplar,  ash,  etc.  Trent  River  flows  through  the  (entre,  and,  with  its 
tributaries,  drains  almost  its  entire  area.  Along  this  river,  on  both 
sides,  are  considerable  bodies  of  long-leaf  fjine  sandy  lands.  There  are 
also  along  the  main  river,  as  well  as  its  tributaries,  narrow  strips  of  oak 
flats  and  occasional  gum  and  cypress  swamps. 

The  soils  of  this  county  are  of  two  kinds — the  one  of  a  light  loamy 
soil,  more  or  less  mixed  with  sand,  with  a  subsoil  of  gray  clay,  easy  of 
cultivation,  returning  good  crops  of  cotton  and  grain,  and  an  excellent 
soil  for  truck  farming.  It  also  produces  excellent  bright  tobacco,  though 
this  crop,  at  present,  does  not  appear  to  increase.  The  other  is  a  heavy 
loam,  underlaid  with  a  substratum  of  stifl'  red  clay,  producing  abun- 
dantly cotton,  grains  or  tobacco.  The  fertility  is  largely  due  to  the 
presence  in  the  soil  of  decomposed  shells  or  carbonate  of  lime.  This 
material  is  also  found  undecomposed,  in  solid  masses,  often  outcropping 
above  the  soil  and  providing  an  easily  accessible  building  material  or 
material  for  burning  into  lime. 

Trent  River  runs  through  the  county,  uniting  with  the  Neuse  at  New 
Bern  and  providing  steamboat  navigation  from  that  city  up  to  Trenton. 

Trenton  is  the  county  seat,  and  has  a  population  of  207. 

.Jones  County  has  212,819  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $702,087;  and  116 
town  lots,  valued  at  $39,407. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  560  horses,  561  mules,  2  jacks  and 
jennies,  587  goats,  o,563  cattle,  8,953  hogs,  and  1,493  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  purposes,  $2,513  05;  pensions,  $376.11; 
schools,  $2,736.53;  county,  $5,890.93. 

Population — white,  3,885  ;  colored,  3,518  ;  total,  7,403. 

LENOIR. 

Lenoir  County  lies  on  the  lower  course  of  the  Neuse,  east  of  Wayne. 
The  northern  half  consists  of  level  piny  uplands  of  the  same  character 
as  those  of  the  counties  adjoining  it  on  the  north,  having  narrow  tracts 
of  swamp  land  along  its  water-courses,  while  in  its  western  and  north- 
ern parts  there  are  wide  tracts  of  level  semi-swamp  lands,  which  are 
characterized  by  a  dark  fine  gray  loam  of  great  fertility.  The  southern 
half  of  the  county,  south  of  the  Neuse,  is  characterized  generally  by  a 
more  sandy  soil,  and  on  the  higher  divides  between  the  streams  by 
narrow  zones  of  pine  barrens  The  water-courses  in  this  half  of  the 
county  are  also  bordered  by  cypress  and  gum  swamps,  and,  to  some 
extent,  by  oak  and  pine  flats.  .Shell  marl  (blue),  chalk  marl  and  green 
sand  are  all  found  in  this  county — one  or  the  other  in  almost  every 
neighborhood,  'ihe  face  of  the  country  may  be  described  as  level, 
though  there  are  some  portions  where  the  land  is  rolling. 

Cotton  is  the  great  staple.  The  soil  is  well  adapted  to  the  cultivation 
of  corn  and  all  other  cereals;  also  Irish  and  sweet  potatoes.  All  the 
fruits  of  the  temperate  regions  can  be  successfully  grown,  and  the  cul- 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  157 

tivation,  if  made  a  specialty,  would  be  attended  with  profit.  There  are 
no  lands  in  the  entire  State  of  North  Carolina  better  adapted  to  the 
cultivation  of  bright  yellow  tobacco  than  the  lands  of  Lenoir  County. 
Owing  to  the  great  prosperity  of  this  county,  land  is  in  demand.  There 
is  a  high  order  of  intelligence  among  the  farming  population,  and  they 
are  well  abreast  with  the  recent  improvements  in  farming  and  are  weU 
informed  in  agricultural  chemistry.  They  take  rank  with  the  most 
successful  farmers  in  the  South.  Their  lands  are  scientifically  culti- 
vated, and  their  farms  are  models  of  neatness. 

While  cotton  is  the  leading  crop,  intelligent  care  is  taken  for  an  abun- 
dant provision  of  breadstuff  and  tlesh-producing  animals,  and  no  people 
of  the  State  are  better  prepared  to  meet  the  contingencies  of  low  prices 
and  partial  injury  to  crops  than  the  farmers  of  Lenoir. 

The  Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  Railroad  traverses  the  county,  giv- 
ing access  to  all  the  markets;  and  this  facility  has  given  an  impetus  to 
truck  farming,  for  which  soil  and  climate  are  well  adapted,  and  all  the 
early  vegetables  cultivated  on  the  shores  of  navigable  waters  are  sent 
to  market  from  Lenoir  with  equal  facility  and  profit.  The  Neu.se  is 
navigable  to  Kinston  and  for  a  few  miles  above,  and  is  navigated  by 
regular  lines  of  freight  steamboats. 

Kinston,  the  capital,  is  situated  on  the  Neuse  River,  and  also  on  the 
Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  Railroad;  and  is  also  the  southern  ter- 
minus of  a  branch  of  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad,  extend- 
ing from  Weldon  via  Scotland  Neck,  a  distance  of  112  miles.  Kin.ston 
is  a  considerable  cotton  market,  and  forwards  annually  between  10,000 
and  12,000  bales.  The  population  is  1,726  by  the  census  of  1890. 
LaGrange,  by  the  same  census,  has  a  population  of  775. 

Lenoir  County  has  244,023  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,101,884;  and 
612  town  lot«,  valued  at  $378,760. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  995  horses,  1,082  mules,  2  jacks  and 
jennies,  3,152  cattle,  12,385  hogs,  3,324  sheep,  and  636  goats. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $5,997.48;  pensions,  $797.94; 
schools,  $6,431.12;  county,  $6,672.45. 

Population — white,  8,517;  colored,  6,362;  total,  14,879. 

LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  County  lies  south  of  Catawba  County  and  west  of  the  Catawba 
River,  and  its  features,  agricultural  and  topographical,  are  those  of  that 
county,  and  may  be  described  in  nearly  the  same  terms.  Its  territory 
is  drained  by  the  parallel  courses  of  the  numerous  tributaries  of  the 
South  Fork  of  the  Catawba,  which  traverses  its  middle  section,  and  the 
average  elevation  is  nearly  1,000  feet  above  sea-level.  In  its  middle 
portion  is  a  north  and  south  zone,  several  miles  in  breadth,  of  red-clay 
soils,  with  oak  and  hickory  forests.  For  the  rest,  its  forests  are  mixed 
oak  and  pine,  and  its  soils  are  gray  and  yellow  gravelly  loams.  The 
eastern  side  of  the  county  is  quite  hilly  near  the  river.  ^SIM 

This  county,  once  one  of  the  largest  in  the  State,  has  been  so  reduced 
by  the  formation  of  other  counties  from  its  territory  as  to  be  one  of  the 


158  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

smallest.  It,  however,  retains  much  of  its  former  consequence,  owing 
to  the  productiveness  of  its  soil,  the  variety  of  its  crops,  the  value  of  its 
ores,  and  its  fine  water-power  and  consequent  adaptation  to  the  uses  of 
manufactures. 

It  produces  tobacco  of  good  quality  and  in  considerable  quantity, 
and  a  cotton  crop  of  about  4,000  bales,  besides  wheat,  corn  and  other 
grains.  It  is  naturally  the  home  of  the  grape,  and  it  is  here  the  cele- 
brated Lincoln  grape  had  its  origin.  It  has  been  long  noted  for  its 
productive  iron  mines,  which  have  been  worked  since  ante-Revolu- 
tionary days.  It  has  abundant  water-power,  both  from  the  main  .stream 
of  the  Catawba  River  and  from  the  South  Fork  of  the  same  stream, 
and  upon  both  of  them  are  large  cotton  factories. 

Lincolnton  is  the  count}'  seat,  and  has  a  population  of  957.  It  is  on 
the  Carolina  Central  road,  which  is  here  intersected  by  the  Chester  and 
Lenoir  Narrow  Gauge  Railroad,  thus  giving  the  town  and  the  county 
ample  facilities  for  travel  and  transportation. 

Lincoln  Countv  has  177,859  acres  of  land,  valued  at  S1.047,G70;  and 
284  town  lots,  valued  at  $125,532. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are — horses,  1,223;  mules,  1,442;  jacks 
and  jennies,  11;  goats,  25;  cattle,  4,558;  hogs,  7,367;  sheep,  2,757. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  uses,  $4,977.27:  pensions,  $696.43; 
schools,  $5,054.41;  countv,  $5,702.59. 

Population— white,  10,028;  colored,  2,558;  total,  12,586. 

Mcdowell. 

McDowell  County  lies  on  the  eastern  flank  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  near 
its  highest  parts,  which  exceed  in  this  region  an  elevation  of  5,500  feet, 
and  its  whole  territory  may  be  described  as  mountainous.  Its  average 
elevation  is  more  than  1,500  feet,  and  it  is  for  the  most  part  drained  by 
the  headwaters  of  the  Catawba  River.  The  southern  and  broader  end 
of  its  triangular  territory  is  traversed  east  and  west  by  the  South  Moun- 
tains, a  long  eastward  projection  or  spur  from  the  Blue  Ridge.  Along 
the  course  of  the  Catawba  River  and  some  of  its  chief  tributaries  are 
wide  tracts  of  sandy  and  alluvial  bottoms,  which  are  v»  ry  productive. 
The  hilly  and  mountainous  tracts  have  the  usual  variety  of  gray  and 
yellowish  oak  uplands  soils  of  medium  fertility  and  mixed  forests  of 
oak,  pine,  chestnut,  etc.  Reddish  clay  loam  soils,  with  a  preponderant 
oak  forest,  are  found  in  patches  here  and  there  in  the  middle  and  south- 
eastern .sections.  A  large  proportion  of  the  soils  of  the  county  are  well 
adapted  to  the  better  grades  of  tobacco,  and  the  agriculture  of  the  county 
has  the  great  advantage  of  an  abundance  of  limest  ne  in  the  northern 
and  middle  sections.  Gold  mining  in  the  South  Mountains  has  long 
been  an  important  industry,  several  mica  mines  having  been  opened, 
and  some  attention  is  given  to  lumbering.  There  is  a  large  amount  of 
valuable  timber  on  the  slopes  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  in  the  mountain 
coves,  which  must  become  the  foundation  of  important  manufactures, 
and  then  there  is  an  indefinite  amount  of  wat('r-{)Ower.  Iron  ores  of 
low  grade  are  abundant. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  159 

Considerable  attention  has  been  given  to  tobacco — less  so  than  for- 
merly— though  the  result  was  sat  sfactory,  the  product  being  an  excel- 
lent bright  yellow.  Some  cotton  is  cultivated,  but  the  chief  crops  are 
small  grains — wheat,  corn,  etc. 

Fine  bottom  lands  are  found  along  the  Catawba  River,  which  rises 
in  the  mountain  sides  of  this  county,  and  thence  flows  through  the 
county  in  a  continuity  of  broad  fertile  valley.  Other  tine  valleys  are 
those  of  Turkey  Cove  and  North  Cove.  Besi'^des  the  Blue  Ridge  on  the 
north  and  west,  the  South  Mountains  and  their  continuation  lie  on  the 
south  side  of  the  county,  and  continue  to  be,  as  they  have  been  for  more 
than  half  a  century,  productive  fields  of  gold  placer  mining. 

The  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad  passes  through  tne  county, 
and  the  Charleston,  Cincinnati  and  Chicago  road  is  complete  as  far  as 
Marion,  and  gives  new  and  independent  connections  east  and  south. 

Marion,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  791.  Its  situation  in 
relation  to  two  railroads  has  brought  it  prominently  into  notice,  and  it 
is  steadily  improving. 

Old  Fort,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  before  the  Revolutionary  war 
the  seat  of  a  fort  planted  there  to  hold  the  Cherokee  Indians  on  the 
other  side  of  the  mountains,  is  a  summer  resort,  has  some  manufactures, 
and  a  population  of  250. 

McDowell  County  has  250,120  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $534,008;  and 
1,147  town  lots,  valued  at  $76,729. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  750  horses,  800  mules,  5  jacks  and 
jennies,  4,065  cattle,  6,420  hogs,  and  2,000  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses — $2,323.19  ;  pensions,  $379.61 ; 
schools,  $3,332.22  :  countv,  $9,604.39. 

Population— white,  9,114;  colored,  1,825  ;  total,  10,939. 

MACON. 

Macon  County  extends  from  the  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  lines, 
on  the  south,  northward  to  the  southern  boundar}-  of  Swain  County. 
It  lies  between  the  Cowee  range  on  the  east  and  the  Nantahala  Moun- 
tains on  the  west,  while  along  the  southern  border  stretches  the  Blue 
Ridge,  here  assuming  its  boldest,  most  precipitous  and  picturesque  forms; 
the  precipices  of  Whitesides,  Black  Rock,  Fodder  Stack,  Saivola  and 
Scaly  breaking  down  towards  the  south  with  perpendicular  faces,  of  a 
depth  of  from  J  ,000  to  1,500  feet.  The  highest  peak  in  the  Cowee  range 
is  the  Yellow  Mountain,  5,133  feet  high.  The  Nantah  da  Mountains 
are  a  majestic  range,  beginning  with  Pickens  Nose,  4,926  feet  high ; 
thence  extending  northward  with  a  uniform  general  height  of  about 
5,000  feet,  the  highest  point  being  the  Wayah,  near  where  the  State 
crosses  the  Gap  at  a  height  of  4,138  feet,  that  mountain  being  5,494  feet 
in  height.  Between  the  Tennessee  River  and  its  tributary,  the  Culla- 
sagee,  a  range  extends  northward  from  the  Blue  Ridge,  terminating 
near  the  confluence  of  these  streams,  the  highest  point  of  which  is  the 
Fish  Hawk,  4,749  feet.  Numerous  shorter  spurs  project  at  right  angles 
from  the  main  chains  of  the  Cowee  and  the  Nantahala,  between  which 


IGO  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

are  streams  of  ten  or  twelve  miles  in  length  flowing  through  broad  and 
fertile  vallevs.  The  chief  of  these  are  Cartoogajay,  Wavah,  Cowee  and 
Ellijay. 

The  Tennessee  River  is  the  principal  stream,  rising  in  Georgia,  near 
Rabun  Gap,  and  flowing  northward  through  a  fine  valley  of  great  fer- 
tility, until  it  unites  with  the  Tuckaseege.  The  current  of  this  stream 
is  more  gentle  than  any  found  among  the  mountains,  and  the  fall  is  so 
gradual  that  it  is  selected  as  a  railroad  route,  the  grade  not  exceeding 
forty-seven  feet  to  the  mile  through  the  whole  length  of  Macon  County. 
The  whole  valley  of  the  Tennessee  is  in  cultivation,  the  whole  being 
very  fertile. 

The  next  largest  stream  is  the  Cullasagee,  or  Sugar  Fork  of  the  Ten- 
nessee. This  stream,  in  its  whole  length,  has  a  tumultuous  course, 
rising  on  the  high  plateau  of  the  Highlands,  4,000  feet  above  sea-level, 
and  cutting  its  way  down  to  the  level  of  the  Tennessee  through  the 
opposing  mountains  in  a  series  of  rapids,  cascades  and  cataracts,  adding 
greatly  to  picturesque  effect,  but,  except  as  water-power,  adding  nothing 
of  economical  value.  The  Xantahala  is  a  beautiful  mountain  stream, 
having  its  bed  in  a  trough  on  almost  the  top  of  the  Nantahala  Moun- 
tains, the  depression  between  that  range  and  the  Valley  River  or  Tus- 
quittah  Mountains  being  vety  small. 

The  area  of  open  land,  assimilating  in  character  to  the  features  of 
the  piedmont  country,  is  greater  than  in  any  other  western  county. 
Farms  are  more  numerous  and  more  continuous,  and  population  more 
dense.     The  soil  is  productive. 

The  chief  crops  are  wheat,  corn,  rye  and  oats,  and  grass  grows  luxu- 
riantly wherever  seeded,  on  hill-side  or  in  valley.  Some  tobacco  is 
raised — once  quite  largeh^ — but  it  has  now  ceased  to  be  a  market  crop. 

Minerals  are  abundant,  but  no  mines  are  worked  except  those  of 
corundum  and  mica.  The  former,  near  the  Cullasagee,  are  worked 
extensively,  the  product  being  about  thirty  tons  a  month.  Mica  is 
mined  extensively  in  several  localities. 

Franklin  is  the  county  seat.  It  is  finely  situated.  Its  population  is 
less  than  500,  its  distance  from  railroad  being  hostile  to  its  development. 

Highlands  is  a  new  village  established  by  northern  settlers  as  a  sani- 
tarium, on  the  crest  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  on  a  broad  plateau,  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  3,750  feet  above  the  sea.  It  is  thriving,  and  has  a  population 
of  about  500,  representing  thirty-one  States  and  Territories. 

Macon  County  has  348,354  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $015,984  ;  and 
381  town  lots,  valued  at  §78,175. 

Of  domestic  animals  it  has  1,315  horse?,  7!i7  mules,  0  jacks  and  jen- 
nies^  42  goats,  8,318  cattle,  13,330  hogs,  and  7,199  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  uses,  $2,959.83;  pensions,  $449.29 
schools,  $3,551.07  ;  countv,  $5,431.10. 

Population— white,  9,436;  colored,  660;  total,  10,102. 


CULLASAGEE    FALLS,    MACON    COUNTY. 


/ 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  161 


MADISON. 


This  county  lies  north  of  Bancombe,  which  is  its  soutliern  boundary. 
The  Smoky  Mountains  separate  it  on  the  north  from  Tennessee,  Yancey 
County  bounds  it  on  the  east,  and  Haywood  on  the  west. 

The  county  is  essentially  a  mountain  territory.  There  is  little  or  none 
of  valley  lands,  the  whole  surface  being  traversed  by  ranges  of  moun- 
tains, ranging  from  2,500  to  4,500  feet  above  sea-level.  Mone  of  them 
rise  to  the  stupendous  height  they  attain  in  the  adjoining  counties  of  Yan- 
cey and  Playwood,  the  great  Smoky  range  even  being  depressed  below 
its  average  height.  But  though  mountainous,  almost  the  whole  soil  is 
of  surpassing  fertility.  In  few  counties  does  the  timber  attain  such 
vast  dimensions,  and  in  some  favored  localities  its  size  might  appear 
fabulous.  On  the  Laurel  River  walnut  eight  feet  in  diameter,  poplar 
ten  or  twelve,  wild  cherry  three  or  four,  buckeye  of  the  same,  black 
birch  of  the  same  size  and  of  proportionate  height,  are  the  common 
growth  of  the  county.  And  to  them  may  be  added  other  trees  too 
many  in  vaYiety  to  enumerate. 

From  such  exuberance  of  soil  much  of  agricultural  prodigality  of 
wealth  might  be  expected.  Nor  is  there  disappointment  in  expectation, 
though  from  absence  of  the  means  of  transportation  agricultural  effort 
was  limited  to  the  production  of  little  more  than  the  necessaries  of  life 
until  the  discovery  that  these  mountainous  hills  had  peculiar  adaptation 
to  the  production  of  superior  tobacco.  For  ten  j^ears  or  more  Madison 
County  has  been  foremost  in  the  production  of  very  superior  bright 
yellow  tobacco.  The  impulse  given  by  its  culture  has  had  marked 
effect  upon  the  condition  of  the  county.  Land  held  at  nominal  prices 
has  increased  in  value.  Mountain  sides  and  tops  that  seemed  destined 
forever  to  wear  their  vesture  and  crown  of  forest  have  been  brought 
into  cultivation.  Men  that  ten  years  ago  scarcely  knew  the  sight  or 
name  of  money  have  become  prosperous  and  relatively  rich,  and  the 
county  is  now  one  most  forward  in  improvement. 

The  soil  is  prolific  in  other  products.  All  the  grains  are  prolific  in 
yield,  and  the  grasses  flourish  in  remarkable  luxuriance,  stock-raising 
being  a  very  con.siderable  source  of  revenue  which  might  be  indefinitely 
enlarged. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  the  county  is  known  to  be  great,  but  unde- 
veloped. Magnetic  iron  and  other  ores  of  the  same  metal  are  found  in 
numerous  localities.  Corundum  of  good  quality  is  found  on  Ivy  River 
and  tributaries.  Barytes  is  mined  to  some  extent  below  Marshall. 
Lime  exists  in  a  vejgi  of  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  exhibiting  itself  in 
lofty  and  picturesque  cliffs  a  mile  below  the  Hot  Springs. 

The  French  Broad  River  bisects  the  count}',  passing  through  it,  a 
broad  roaring  torrent  between  precipitous  hills,  encroaching  so  closely 
upon  the  river  as  to  leave  little  room  for  human  habitation  or  enter- 
prise. Laurel  River  and  Ivy  River  both  come  in  on  the  right  bank, 
large  bold  streams,  each  cutting  its  way  through  the  mountains,  pre- 

11 


162  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

senting:  characteristics  similar  to  those  of  the  Frencli  Broad  and  equally 
unavailable  as  water-power. 

The  tobacco  crop  for  1889  by  the  last  census  returns  is  stated  at 
2,16S,232  pounds,  a  large  proportion  of  which  is  bright  yellow.  It  is 
marketed  chiefly  at  Asheville,  and  to  some  extent  at  Lynchburg  and 
Danville. 

The  Paint  Rock  branch  of  the  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad, 
winding  through  the  contined  gorge  of  the  French  Br  ad  River,  n^w 
gives  ready  access  to  market,  and  is  now  one  of  the  great  highwiiys  of 
continental  travel. 

Marshall,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  in  a  narrow  strip  of  land 
between  overtopping  hills  and  ihe  river,  with  a  br^  adth  of  less  than  a 
hundred  yards  and  a  length  of  less  than  half  a  mile.  Jt  has  a  po})U- 
lation  of  about  200,  active  and  enterprising,  and  is  ihe  centre  of  a  large 
tobacco  business,  there  beiui;  here  two  tobacco  sales  warehouses. 

Hot  Springs,  16  miles  below  Marshall,  is  the  mo-t  noted  spot  in  the 
county,  celebrated  for  its  warm  baths,  its  extensive  hotel,  and  the  beauty 
of  its  surroundings.  Its  importance  is  confined  chiefly  to  its  character 
as  a  health  and  pleasure  resort. 

Madison  County  has  227,238  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $935,957.  and 
136  town  lots,  vafued  at  ^60,230. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,492  horses,  1,327  mules,  14  jacks 
and  jennies,  10,096  cattle,  10,925  hogs,  and  5,303  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  Sate  uses,  $4,239.42;  pensions,  $718.39; 
schools,  $8,746.82;  county,  $11,987.28 

Population — white,  17,095;  colored,  710;  total,  17,805. 

MARTIN. 

Martin  County  is  bordered  on  the  north  by  t'^e  very  tori  nous  course 
of  the  Roanoke  River,  the  tributary  waters  of  which,  for  the  most  part, 
drain  it  nortliA'ard  into  that  river.  The  Lirg<-r  part  of  its  teriit'-ry 
belongs  to  the  region  of  level  piny  uplands,  having  a  gray  sandy  loam 
soil.  The  higher  ridge  land,  near  the  south  hankot  the  Koanoke  River, 
has  a  soil  lighter  and  more  sandy,  and  is  character  zed  by  a  consider- 
able admixture  of  longdeaf  pine  and  the  average  proportion  of  oaks 
and  short-leaf  pine,  etc.  Along  the  Roanoke  and  some  of  its  tril'Uta- 
ries  there  are  extensive  bottoms  or  alluvial  lands,  and  about  the  head 
streams  of  its  tributaties  considerable  traets  of  swamp  land. 

The  agriculture  of  the  county  corresponds,  in  its  main  features,  to 
that  of  Edgecombe  and  the  adjacent  counties,  but  its  soils  are  le-s  pro- 
ductive and  its  agriculture  is  less  advanced,  partly  because  of  its  large 
and  protitable  lumber  industry  in  the  great  cypress  swamps  of  the 
Roanoke.  Marl  is  abundant,  and  is  used  to  a  moderate  extent.  The 
production  of  cotton  animally  reaches  Irom  4,000  to  6,000  bales,  and  the 
rich  alluvial  lands  are  |)rolific  in  corn,  rice  anri  other  grains. 

The  increase  of  railroad  facilities,  giving  access  to  swamj)  and  forest 
region,  before  out  of  })rofitable  reach,  has  given  great  stimulu-*  to  the 
lumber  business,  besides  promoting  general  enterprise  and  advancing 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  163 

property.  A  railroad  extends  from  Washington,  in  Beaufort  County, 
to  Jamesville,  on  the  Roanoke.  Originally  designed  as  a  road  for  the 
transportation  of  timber,  it  has  expanded  into  one  of  general  utility, 
connected  with  lines  of  freight  and  travel.  Another  road,  connectii)g 
at  Tarboro  with  the  extensive  Coast  Line  S3'stem,  reaches  Wiiliamston, 
on  the  Roanoke,  and  thence  becomes  part  t)f  a  through  line  of  travel 
and  transportation.  These  roads,  together  with  the  navigation  of  the 
Roanoke  River  and  some  smaller  but  deep  interior  streams,  provide 
Martin  County  with  ample  means  of  communication. 

Williamstoti, situated  on  tlie  Roanoke,  has  a  population  of  751,. James- 
ville of  316,  Hamilton  of  782,  and  Robertsville  of  228. 

Martin  County  has  282,860  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,086,228;  and 
599  town  lots,  valued  at  $257,007. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  uses,  $5,806.27;  pensions,  $837.70; 
schools,  $7,972.47;  county,  $7,459  96. 

Population— white,  7,838;  colored,  7,383  ;  total,  15,221. 

MECKLENBURG. 

Mecklenburg  County  is  located  in  the  south-western  portion  of  North 
Carolina,  north  of  the  35th  parallel  of  latitude,  about  200  mi!es  from 
the  Atlantic  coast,  and  100  miles  east  of  the  Appalachian  range  of 
mountains,  and  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
and  on  the  west  by  the  Catawba  River.  1  he  county  was  originally 
largely  settled  by  Scotch,  with  Irish,  German  and  English  intermingled. 
The  elevation  varies  between  600  and  900  feet,  the  average  being  about 
700  feet  above  the  sea.  This  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  pro(iuctive, 
as  well  as  one  of  the  most  populous,  counties  in  the  State.  The  pro- 
duction of  cotton  constitutes  the  principal  feature  of  the  agriculture  of 
the  entire  county,  having  increased  more  than  threefold  in  the  last  ten 
years.  Before  the  war  the  culture  of  cotton  did  not  reach  northward 
beyond  the  middle  of  the  county.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory of  this  county  belongs  to  the  cla^s  of  red-clay  lands  which  were 
originally  covered  with  heavy  forests  of  oak — pine  coming  in  as  a  con- 
stituent of  the  forests  only  on  the  summits  of  the  ridges  and  divides 
between  the  streams,  where  the  soils  are  gray  and  yellow  sandy  loams. 
The  higher  portion  of  the  county,  which  lies  along  the  water-shed 
between  the  Yadkin  and  the  Catawba  in  a  north  and  south  direction, 
belongs,  in  the  main,  to  the  latter  class  of  soils,  but  has  here  and  there 
small  tracts  of  red  clay.  This  county  shows  a  large  product  of  cotton, 
ranking  third  in  this  respect;  and  also  produces  corn  and  the  small 
grains  on  a  large  scale. 

Gold  and  copper  mining  are  important  industries  in  several  sections 
of  the  county.  The  principal  minerals  are  gold,  copper,  soapstone  and 
barytes.  For  over  fifty  years  the  gold  mines  have  been  famous  for  their 
yield  of  rich  ores.  After  descending  below  water-level  twenty  to  forty 
feet,  the  ores  of  the  veins  are  converted  into  sulphuret'',  and  no  com- 
plete process  has  yet  been  introduced  and  established  by  which  the 
gold,  silver,  lead  and  copper  can  be  eliminated.     A  perfect  process  for 


164  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

separatinjy  tlie  valuable  metals  from  the  earthy  substances  would  prove 
invaluable  and  develop  many  of  the  richest  mines  of  the  continent. 
A  large  capital  is  now  invested  in  these  mines,  some  of  which  are  being 
successfully  worked. 

The  numerous  railways  entering  the  count}-,  and  all  centering  in 
Charlotte,  have  stimulated  all  industries  and  encouraged  all  enterprises. 
Agriculture  has  advanced  with  the  encouragement  of  ready  markets 
and  promoted  by  the  operations  of  the  stock  law.  Good  roads  facilitate 
the  work  of  the  farmer  in  his  resort  to  the  market,  and  have  advanced 
materially  the  value  of  rural  property.  The  railroads  radiate  from 
Charlotte  in  all  directions.  The  first  built  is  the  branch  of  the  South 
Carolina  road,  now  known  as  the  Charloite,  Columbia  and  Augusta 
road;  then  the  North  Carolina  road,  of  which  Charlotte  wos  the  west- 
ern terminus,  and  which  is  now  a  part  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville 
system — part  of  one  of  the  great  through  lines  of  travel  and  traffic; 
and  this  line  is  extended  to  Atlanta,  going  from  Charlotte  through  the 
south-western  part  of  Mecklenburg  County,  and  developing  greatly  the 
resources  of  a  country  before  much  secluded.  The  Carolina  Central, 
beginning  at  Wilmington,  passes  through  Charlotte,  to  find  its  present 
terminus  at  Rutherfordton,  thus  giving  Charlotte  another  east  and  west 
line;  and  the  Atlantic,  Tennessee  and  Ohio  road,  connecting  at  States- 
ville  with  the  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad,  makes  additional  valu- 
able connections  and  develops  another  part  of  the  county.  Charlotte 
is  also  directly  connected  with  the  new  line  recently  opened  from  Mon- 
roe to  Atlanta,  and  thus  is  provided  with  railroad  facilities  unequalled 
in  North  Carolina.  The  effect,  not  only  upon  Charlotte,  but  the  whole 
county,  has  been  very  great;  and  no  city  and  no  county  exhibits  more 
solidly  attained  or  more  permanently  secured  prosperity. 

Charlotte,  the  county  seat,  by  the  census  of  1890,  is  credited  with  a 
])opulaiion  of  1 1,557.  The  city  is  well  laid  out,  has  well  paved  streets, 
lines  of  electric  street  cars,  electric  lighting,  water-works,  sewerage, 
telephone  exchange,  public  parks,  and  all  the  conveniences  and  necessi- 
ties of  healthy  corporate  existence;  has  numerous  and  elegant  churches, 
school.^,  an  opera-house,  an  auditorium,  capacious  and  elegant  hotels,  a 
United  States  Assay  Office,  an  elegant  public  building  for  Federal 
court-hou-se  and  post-office.  In.  addition  it  has  a  compress  which  com- 
pressed to  December,  1891 — one  year's  work — 85,568  bales,  four  cotton 
factories,  fertilizer  factory,  iron  works  (2),  oil  mill,  hosiery-works,  spoke 
and  handle-works,  lumber-works,  etc. 

Davidson  College,  the  seat  of  tlie  college  of  that  name,  has  a  popula- 
tion of  4S1,  Matthews  of  335,  Iluntersville  of  431. 

Mecklenburg  County  has  324,949  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $2,414,083, 
and  2,205  town  lots,  valued  at  $2,lb2,948. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  2,613  horses,  3,667  mules,  15  jacks 
and  jennies,  8,755  cattle,  10,694  hogs,  2,448  sheep,  and  97  goats. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $24,051.07;  pensions,  $2,951.22; 
schools,  §-20,880.73;  countv,  $69,617.71. 

Poi)u!ation— white.  23.141  :  colored,  19,532;  total,  42,673. 


.>      a 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  165 


MITCHELL. 


Mitchell  County  lies  between  the  Blue  Ridge  on  the  south  and  east, 
and  the  Smoky  Mountains  on  the  north,  the  west  having  a  conventional 
boundary.  The  whole  county  is  to  a  great  degree  mountainous,  there 
being  little  valley  formation  except  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Toe 
River.  The  highest  mountain  is  the  Roan,  which  rises  to  the  height 
of  6,332  feet.  The  North  Toe  River  is  the  principal  stream  flowing  out 
of  the  State  under  the  name  of  the  Nolecliucky  and  one  of  the  main 
affluents  of  the  Holstnn  River  in  Tennessee. 

t-  The  soil  of  Mitchell  is  uniformly  fertile,  the  timber  of  large  size  and 
of  great  variety.  The  cereals  grow  to  great  perfection.  Apples,  cherries 
and  grapes  are  of  great  excellence,  and  much  of  the  land  proves  well 
adapted  to  the  production  of  very  flne  tobacco.  The  grasses  flourish, 
and  cattle  are  reared  for  market  in  considerable  numbers. 

The  mineral  products  of  this  county  are  confined  at  present  to  mica 
and  iron;  copper  and  other  metals  have  been  found.  The  famous 
Cranberry  mines  are  in  the  north-eastern  corner  of  the  county,  and 
now  extensively  worked.  They  are  connected  by  railroad  with  the 
Norfolk  and  Southern  Railroad  at  Johnson  City,  Tennessee, 
i  The  mica  mines  are  the  most  extensive  in  the  United  States,  and 
proiuce  a  large  proportion  of  the  mica  put  on  the  market.  The  most 
productive  mines  are  those  onc3  worked  by  an  aboriginal  race. 

Tobacco  of  fine  quality  is  grown  to  considerable  extent,  the  census 
returns  for  1889  crediting  the  county  with  44,448  pounds.  The  timber 
industry  is  a  great  and  growing  one. 

In  this  county  is  the  Roan  Mountain,  6,332  feet  high,  oi  whose  long 
grass-covered  summit  is  a  fine  hotel,  made  easily  accessible,  and  one  of 
the  most,  if  not  the  most,  elevated  health  and  [)leasure'  resorts  in  the 
United  States. 

Bakersville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  about  300,  and  Elk 
Park  of  313. 

Mitchell  County  has  208,815  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $592,968,  and 
157  town  lots,  valued  at  $60,115 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,437  horses,  396  mules,  5  jacks  and 
jennies,  4  goats,  6,316  cattle,  5,421  hogs,  3,343  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $2,414.38;  pensions,  $402.67; 
schools,  S3,393.33;  county,  $7,207.17. 

Population — white,  12,252;  colored,  535;  total,  12,807. 

MONTGOMERY. 

In  ils  topographical  features  Montgomery  County  may  be  described 
in  nearly  the  same  terms  as  Chatham.  Several  low  chains  of  moun- 
tains or  high  ranges  of  slate  hills  cross  its  territory  in  a  direction  nearly 
north  and  south.  The  county  is  drained  by  the  Yadkin  River  and  two 
of  its  chief  tributaries,  the  Uwharrie  and  Little  Rivers.  Its  territory, 
therefore,  is  quite  broken  in  surface.     Its  soils  are  mostly  sandy  and 


166  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

gravelly  loams,  with  occasional  tracts  of  red  clays.  Along  its  eastern 
border,  and  particularly  in  its  south-eastern  corner,  there  are  large 
bodies  of  valuable  limber,  as  it  here  touches  the  long-leaf  pine  belt; 
the  lands  are  of  the  common  character  of  this  border  region,  and  its 
soils  are  generally  lean.  Cotton  is  quite  a  subordinate  interest  in  com- 
parison with  grains.  The  water-power  of  its  rivers  is  very  great,  the 
Yadkin  having  a  fall  within  the  county  of  more  than  200  feet  and  a 
force  per  foot  of  above  350  horse-power.  There  are  many  valuable 
gold  mines,  both  vein  and  placer. 

The  gold  mines  frequently  occasion  an  excitement  similar  to  that 
which  accompanied  the  discoveries  in  California.  The  gold  is  frequently 
found  in  lumps  weighing  from  four  to  eight  pounds.  But  though 
found  in  this  way  through  a  series  of  many  years,  there  has  been  no 
continuity  of  discovery  and  no  permanent  prosperity  to  miners.  The 
alleged  wealth  of  the  Saunders  mine,  discovered  a  few  years  ago,  led  to 
some  large  investments  and  the  introduction  of  much  costly  machinery. 

The  growing  scarcity  of  pine  timber  in  the  more  accessible  pine  belt 
has  led  to  the  construction,  by  private  enterprise,  of  a  railroad  from 
Aberdeen,  on  the  Raleigh  and  Augusta  Railroad,  to  West  End,  in 
Montgomery  County,  a  distance  of  25  miles,  where  the  fresh  forests  are 
brought  into  use  and  numerous  and  large  mills  have  been  erected. 

Troy  is  the  county  seat,  and,  including  Troy  township,  contains  1,389 
inhabitants. 

Montgomery  County  contains  314,500  acres  of  land,  valued  at 
$844,800,  and  129  town  lots,  valued  at  $29,997. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  816  horses,  982  mules,  4  jacks  and 
jennies,  170  goats,  7,050  cattle,  9,550  hogs,  and  4,865  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  purposes,  $3,442.31 ;  pensions,  $551.26; 
schools,  $4,194.80;  countv,  $7,850.08. 

Population— white,  8,982;  colored,  2,257;  total,  11,239.. 

MOORE. 

Moore  County  lies  on  the  western  margin  of  the  long-leaf  pine  belt. 
Its  middle  and  southern  portions  belong  largely  to  the  class  of  lands 
called  pine  barrens  or  "sand  hills."  The  northern  part  of  this  trian- 
gular territory  partakes  more  of  the  character  of  the  oak  uplands 
agricultural  division,  being  very  hilly  and  broken,  with  sandy  and 
gravelly  soil  on  the  higher  ridges,  having  a  mixed  oak  and  pine  growth, 
a.nd  on  the  slopes  of  the  hills  partaking  of  the  character  of  clay  loams. 

Near  the  middle  (a  little  north  of  east),  as  well  as  in  the  south- 
western region,  and  in  the  eastern  one,  are  con.sidcrable  bodies  of  level 
and  rolling  upland  piny  woods.  These  are  the  best  cotton  soils.  The 
tributaries  of  the  Cape  Fear,  which  rise  along  the  south-eastern  section 
of  the  county,  are  frniged  with  gum,  cypress  and  juniper  swamps,  and 
on  many  of  the  streams,  large  and  small,  are  patche.«,  and  .'Sometimes 
considerable  tracts,  of  alluvial  "bottom"  lands.  The  agriculture  of 
the  county  is  divided  between  cotton  and  grain  crops;  but  the  lumber 
and  turpentine  interests  are  quite  important,  and  there  are  yet  large 
turpentine  forests  untouched. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  167 

A  broad  belt  of  the  "old  sea-basin"  runs  diagonally  through  the 
county,  having  a  warm,  productive,  but  not  enduring  soil,  and  favorable 
to  cotton  and  grain.  In  this  belt  are  found  valuable  qualities  of  sand- 
stone, attractive  in  color,  working  easil}^  and  very  durable.  Quarries 
of  this  material  have  been  opened,  and  one  near  Carthage  has  attracted 
so  much  attention  as  to  have  enlisted  large  capital  for  its  operation. 

Gold  is  found  in  considerable  quantities  in  the  western  part  of  the 
county,  and  placer  mining  has  been  jairsued  with  considerable  success, 
the  Cagle  mines  at  one  time  attracting  to  them  large  numbers  of  miners 
and  adventurers.  Valuable  quarries  of  millstone  grit  have  long  been 
worked  and  favorably  known,  and  on  the  waters  of  Deep  River  are 
large  deposits  of  finely  grained  and  richly  colored  soapstone  or  talc. 

The  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley  Railroad  passes  through  the 
north-eastern  part  of  the  county,  and  the  Raleigh  and  Augusta  Air- 
Line  passes  from  north-east  to  south-west,  following  nearly  parallel 
with  the  south-eastern  boundary  of  the  county  through  its  whole 
length,  giving  ample  means  for  transportation,  and  stimulating  the 
growth  of  frequent  villages  as  well  as  saw-mills  and  turpentine  dis- 
tilleries. A  branch  road  of  ten  miles  connects  the  Raleigh  and  Augusta 
Air-Line  at  Cameron  with  Carthage,  the  county  seat. 

Carthage  has  a  population  of  485,  Cameron  of  236,  Jonesboro,  on  the 
Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley  Railroad,  of  541,  Manly  of  102,  Aber- 
deen of  227,  Keyser  of  205,  and  Sanford  of  367.  All  these  are  new 
villages  along  the  lines  of  the  railroads. 

On  the  Raleigh  and  Augusta  Air-Line  is  the  settlement  known  as 
Southern  Pines,  established  as  a  health  resort  for  Northern  invalids, 
but  developed  into  a  permanent  industrial  community.  In  addition 
to  the  health  and  pleasure  inducement,  which  is  encouraged  by  elegant 
hotels,  a  large  number  of  individuals  have  made  them.selves  handsome 
homes,  and  given  their  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  peaches  and 
grapes,  many  hundred  acres  being  in  orchard  and  several  hundred  in 
vineyard. 

Moore  County  has  243,955  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,208,362,  and 
2,280  town  lots,  valued  at  $223,149. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,630  horses,  1,457  mules,  4  jacks  and 
jennies,  526  goats,  9,794  cattle,  21,447  hogs,  and  9,923  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  uses,  $6,299.93;  pensions,  $895.62; 
schools,  $7,168.67 ;  countv,  $9,560.66. 

Population— white,  13,985;  colored,  6,494:  total,  20,479. 

NASH. 

The  general  topographical  and  agricultural  features  of  Nash  County 
corresi)mid  quite  closely  to  those  of  Halifax,  to  which  its  situation  is 
similar.  It  lies  south  of  that  county,  and  also  on  the  borders  of  the 
oak  uplands,  to  which  the  western  part  of  it  l;)elongs.  It  is  drained,  for 
the  most  part,  by  the  Tar  River  and  its  numerous  tributaries,  along 
which  are  narrow  strips  of  alluvial  soil,  with  oak  forests  and  occasional 
cypress  swamps.     The  divides  between  these  streams,  through  the  mid- 


1G8  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

die  and  eastern  portions  of  the  county,  belong  to  the  region  of  level 
upland  piny  woods,  the  growth  being  a  mixture  of  long-leaf  and  short- 
leaf  pine,  wiih  oak,  hickory,  dogwood,  etc.  These  soils  are  well  adapted 
to  the  culture  of  cotton,  and  are  of  average  fertility.  The  soils,  in 
many  places  in  the  western  section,  are  led  or  yellowish  clay  loams. 
This  county  lies  largely  within  the  area  of  the  most  productive  cotton 
section  of  the  State.  The  corn  and  })o:alo  crops  are  also  imi)ortant. 
Marl  is  abundant  in  the  eastern  part,  but  has  not  been  extensively  used. 

Tar  Kiver  waters  this  county,  together  with  several  large  tributary 
creeks,  and  hence  it  has  a  large  proportion  of  swamp  and  heavily  tim- 
bered land.  In  the  southern  and  western  portions  of  the  county  it  is 
broken  and  the  soil  red  and  stiff,  with  Pome  rock,  w^ell  adapted  to  the 
growth  of  grain  and  tobacco.  It  grows  fine  cotton  also.  In  other  parts 
the  soil  is  generally  gra^^  and  the  face  of  the  country  level. 

In  the  western,  north-western  and  northern  portions  there  is  some 
lack  of  timber,  except  in  the  swamps.  All  the  other  portions  are  well 
timbered.  The  long-leaf  pine,  red  and  white  and  Spanish  oak,  hickory 
and  blackjack  are  the  leading  varieties  on  the  upland,  and  all  of  these 
and  the  water  oak,  cypress  and  gum  on  the  lowland. 

The  improved  farms  produce  from  three-fourths  to  one  and  one-fourth 
bales  of  cotton  of  450  pounds,  and  from  thirty  to  forty  bushels  of  corn 
and  tv\enty  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre.  Tlie  unimproved,  from  one- 
fourth  to  three-fourths  bale  of  cotton,  and  from  ten  to  twenty  bushels 
of  corn.  No  wheat  is  grown  on  the  unimproved  land  worthy  of  men- 
tion. On  the  red  land  the  grasses  and  clover  do  well.  Large  yields 
of  peas  and  potatoes  are  grown  on  the  gray  land.  If  the  swamp  lands 
in  this  county  were  reclaimed  it  would  be  one  of  the  wealthiest  in  the 
State.  It  is  estimated  that  if  this  were  done,  enough  corn  could  be 
raised  in  this  county  alone  to  supply  one-half  the  entire  State.  The 
product  of  cotton  is  from  10,000  to  12,000  bales  per  year. 

Within  the  past  few  years  there  has  been  rapid  development  in  the 
cultivation  of  tobacco,  the  quality  being  a  superior  bright  yellow.  So 
encouraging  is  the  industry',  and  so  suitable  the  soil,  that  tobacco 
promi.ses  largely  to  supeisede  cotton.  Markets  have  been  established 
near  at  hand — that  at  Rocky  Mount  having  assumed  large  proportions. 
By  the  census  of  1800,  the  crop  of  1889  is  stated  to  have  been  782,813 
pounds,  and,  though  j)robably  falling  short  of  the  reality,  shows  enor- 
mous gains  over  that  of  1879,  when  it  was  only  7,oG2  pounds!. 

The  county  is  well  provided  with  railroad  facilities — the  Wilmington 
and  Weldon  road  running  along  its  eastern  border,  with  a  branch  from 
Rocky  Mount  to  Tarboro,  and  thence  to  Williamston:  and  tiio  Albe- 
marle and  Raleig'i  Railroad  penetrates  the  county  as  far  as  Springhope. 

Tar  River,  at  its  fal's  near  Rocky  Mount,  affords  exhaustle.>^s  water- 
power.  It  is  here  the  Battle  Cotton  Factory  was  erected,  about  the  year 
18H)— the  first  cotton-mill  built  and  operated  in  North  Carolina — yet 
running  with  greatly  added  power  and  productiveness 

Nash  Comity  was  once  famous  for  its  apple  orchards  and  its  apple 
brandy.  The  orchards  have  fallen  into  decay,  and  the  brandy  has 
little  more  than  local  rei)Utation. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  169 

The  gold  formation  which  charac'erizes  the  north-eastern  corner  of 
Franklin  County  extends  over  into  the  adjacent  territory  of  Nash. 
Among  the  mines  that  have  been  profitably  worked  in  this  county  is 
the  Arrington  Mine. 

Nashville  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  401.  Castalia  has 
a  population  of  159;  Springhope,  of  248;  Rocky  Mount  (the  Nash  por- 
tion) has  a  population  of  489.  Near  this  place  is  situated  the  Battle 
Cotton  Factory,  and  in  the  town  are  tobacco  sales  warehouses.  An 
improvement  company  has  recently  made  large  investments  in  laud 
within  the  corporate  limits,  and  proposes  to  engage  in  extensive  enter- 
prises. 

Nash  County  has  325,758  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,769,413;  and 
397  town  lots,  valued  at  |17O,4O0. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,263  horses,  1,374  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  1,319  goats,  6,983  cattle,  18,586  hogs,  4,930  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  U'-es,  $7,185  83  ;  pensions,  $1,055.77  ; 
schools,  $9,587.44;  county,  $11,696.21. 

Population — white,  12,186;  coloied,  8,521;  total,  20,707. 

NEW  HANOVER. 

New  Hanover  is  one  of  the  smallest  counties  in  the  Slate,  and  consists 
of  a  narrow  triangular  wedge  between  the  Cape  Fear  River  on  the  west 
and  the  Atlantic  coast  on  tlie  east,  with  its  narrow  fringe  of  sounds, 
marshes  and  dunes.  The  margins  of  the  streams  and  sounds  are  bor- 
dered in  many  places  by  narrow  strips  of  oak  and  pine  flats,  with  a 
gray  silty  soil.  The  central  portion  of  the  county,  as  well  as  the  dunes 
along  the  shore,  are  sandy  and  unproductive,  but  there  are  tracts  of 
alluvial  and  swamp-land  river  bottoms  along  the  Cape  Fear  which  pro- 
duce large  crops  of  rice.  The  county  contains  the  largest  city  in  the 
State — Wilmington.  It  is  also  the  most  important  seaport,  and  has  a 
large  foreign  as  well  as  inland  trade  in  lumber,  naval  stores  and  cotton, 
both  by  means  of  its  railways  and  navigable  rivers.  Though  now  one 
of  the  smallest.  New  Hanover  has  always  been  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant counties  in  the  State.  The  existence  of  a  good  harbor,  with  a  good 
depth  of  water  on  the  bar,  and  not  only  up  to  the  head  of  tide-water, 
but  into  which  point  flowed  a  navigable  river,  penetrating  far  back  into 
the  interior,  a  possession  enjoyed  alone  by  the  inhabitants  along  the 
Cape  Fear  River;  and,  after  several  tentative  efforts  at  town-building, 
in  1725  the  site  of  Wilmington  was  permanently  chosen.  This  is  not 
the  place  to  give  the  history  of  the  town  or  settlement.  It  will  suffice 
here  to  say  that  >Vilmington  prospered;  and  as  the  trade  with  the 
interior,  carried  on  by  means  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  as  far  as  Fayette- 
ville,  and  thence  into  the  back  country,  not  only  gained  in  importance 
itself,  but  became  an  important  factor  in  the  development  of  all  the 
country  to  which  its  influence  extended.  Wilmington,  in  process  of 
time,  became  engaged  in  a  large  foreign  trade,  to  Furopp  and  to  the 
West  Indies,  and  it  was  said  at  one  time  that  a  cargo  could  be  made  up 
here  for  any  port  in  the  world.     It  continues  to  be  an  important  port, 


170  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

with  increase  of  trade  and  with  growing  recognition  of  iis  value  as  a 
coaling  port  and  as  a  harbor  of  refuge — its  position,  south  of  all  the 
dangerous  capes,  making  it  peculiarly  attractive  to  storm-tossed  seamen. 
In  recognition  of  these  conditions,  the  General  Government  has  made 
continued  and  liberal  api)ropriations  for  closing  up  an  obstructive 
inlet,  for  deepening  the  water  on  the  bar,  and  for  cleansing  the  channel 
from  the  bar  to  Wilmington,  so  that  at  spring-tides  vessels  drawing 
twenty-four  feet  of  water  can  cross  the  bar. 

The  lower  waters  of  the  Cape  Fear  are  the  only  localities  in  which 
tidewater  rice  can  be  successfully  cultivated,  because  here  alone  can 
the  growing  crop  be  flooded  with  the  waters  of  a  full  fresh-water  river 
in  combination  with  the  flow  of  the  tide  from  the  sea.  Rice  has  there- 
fore for  more  than  a  century  been  cultivated  here,  and  its  culture  con- 
stituted the  wealth  of  a  body  of  planters  noted  for  their  intelligence, 
their  social  culture,  their  intellectual  force  and  accomplishment,  their 
courage  and  their  public  spirit. 

Witli  the  exception  of  rice,  the  agricultural  industry  of  New  Hanover 
County  is  small.  On  the  coast  there  are  profitable  fisheries,  chiefly 
mullet,  and  the  waters  abound  in  oysters. 

Wilmington,  the  county  seat,  has,  by  the  census  of  1890,  a  population 
of  20  056.  The  city  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  Cape  Fear,  at  the 
junction  of  the  north-west  and  north-east  branches  of  the  Cape  Fear 
River,  assuring  a  deep,  safe  and  cimmodious  harbor,  vessels  able  to 
cross  the  bar  coming  up  directly  to  the  wharves,  a  distance  of  thirty 
miles.  The  harbor  is  resorted  to  by  vessels  of  every  nation  and  from 
all  the  ports  of  the  world.  The  exports  are  chiefly  cotton,  cotton  goods, 
timber,  lumber,  naval  stores,  and  numberless  miscellaneous  goods. 
Cotton  is  largely  exported  to  European  ports,  chiefly  in  steamers.  Naval 
stores  are  mosily  transported  in  Norwegian  and  German  vessels  of  the 
class  of  barks.  Domestic  or  coastwise  trade  is  carried  on  by  lines  of 
steamers  and  large  schooners. 

There  are  annual  fluctuations  in  busine.ss  from  various  causes.  The 
President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  for  the  year  1891,  makes  the 
following  statement: 

T  regret  to  note  a  falling  off  in  the  receipts  of  the  principal  articles  of  commerce  at 
this  port.     For  the  voar  ending  Jlarch  31.  1892,  they  have  been  as  follows  : 

R<).sin,  294. .J-2()  barrels,  against  3G6.502  barrels  last  year;  spirits  turin-ntinc  08.099 
casks,  against  67,785  casks  last  year;  tar,  68,798  l)arrels,  against  iH),'S2i  Itarrcls  last 
year;  crude  tiu-pentine,  13,924  barrels,  against  18,201  barrels  last  year:  cotton  (from 
September  1,  1891).  ir);i,.-)9()  bales,  against  182,648  bales  last  year.  The  ex]iorts  of 
Intiib.-r  have  been  26,115.927  feet,  against  ,38.660,262  feet  last  year,  but  as  the  receipts 
of  titnluT  have  been  larger,  it  is  probable  that  an  increase  in  local  consumption  and 
inland  shipments  has  fully  comjjensatcd  for  tliis  loss. 

The  faUing  off  in  naval"  ston-s  is  i)rin(ipa!ly  caused  by  the  gradual  natural  exhaus- 
tion of  till'  i)in('  forests  contiguous  to  tiiis  market.  l»ut  it  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  an 
increase  in  cotton  business  iias^not  compeiisatecl  for  that  loss,  and  the  preseiit  dejjressed 
state  of  the  lotton  trade,  which  only  a  decreased  production  can  cure,  warns  us  that 
we  cannot  lookto  that  industry  to  increase  our  trade  for  some  years  to  come. 

Wiltnington  has  one  large  cotton  factory,  a  wood  and  ba'^ket  factory, 
numerous  steam  saw-mills,  rice-mills,  oil-mills,  planii'g-mills,  etc.,  etc., 
and  has  electric  and  gas  lighting,  water-works,  electric  street  railway. 


DESCRIPTION    OF   COUNTIES.  171 

opera-house,  a  costly  Young  Men's  Christian  Ai;SOciation  building, 
numerous  costly  churches,  beautifully  arranged  and  adorned  cemeteries, 
handsome  and  costly  government  buildings,  and  all  that  is  needed  for 
the  comfort,  health  and  convenience  of  a  city. 

Wilmington  is  the  focal  point  of  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Rail- 
road, of  the  Wilmington,  Columbia  and  Augusta  Railroad,  of  the  Cape 
Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley  Railroad,  of  the  Carolina  Central,  of  the 
Wilmington  and  Onslow  Railroad,  and  of  the  Sea  Coast  road,  and  also 
of  a  regular  line  of  steamers  to  New  York. 

New  Hanover  County  has  87,123  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $447,235, 
and  town  lots  valued  at  $3,373,666. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  701  horses,  201  mules,  487  goats,  2,037 
cattle,  3,556  hogs,  and  76  sheep.  .  1.' -Z;^ 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $20,355.96;  pensions,  $1,944.50; 
schools,  $26,999.53;  county,  $34,217.81. 

Population— white,  10,089;  colored,  13,937  ;  total,  24,026. 

NORTHAMPTON. 

Northampton  County  is  situated  between  the  Virginia  border  and 
the  Roanoke  River.  Its  soils  belong  to  the  general  region  of  level  piny 
uplands,  merging  toward  the  western  limit  into  oak  uplands  and  a 
more  hilly  surface,  with  an  elevation  of  150  feet  above  sea-level.  Its 
numerous  streams  have  general  fringes  of  oak  flats,  alluvions,  or  gum 
and  cypress  swamps,  and  the  Roanoke  River  has  in  its  extensive 
"  bottoms"  some  of  the  best  corn  lands  in  the  State. 

The  product  of  cotton  in  Northampton  is  large  in  view  of  its  rela- 
tively high  latitude,  reaching  annually  between  10,000  and  15,000  bales. 
Corn  has  always  been  a  leading  crop,  especially  on  the  rich  lands  of 
the  Roanoke,  which,  however,  are  seriously  exposed  to  the  disasters  of 
overflow.  Onlv  a  small  quantity  of  tobacco  is  now  reported  as  being 
cultivated— 5,879  in  1889  against  20,484  in  1879. 

Northampton  County  is  connected  by  railway  by  the  Petersburg  and 
Weldon  Railroad  with  Petersburg,  Va.,  and  by  the  Seaboard  and 
Roanoke  road  with  Portsmouth,  A^a.,  and  it  has  good  navigation  down 
the  Roanoke  from  the  falls  below  Weldon.  The  first  railroads  built  in 
North  Carolina  passed  through  this  county. 

Jackson,  the  countv  seat,  has  750  inhabitants.  Rich  Square  643,  and 
Woodland  247. 

Northampton  County  has  317,453  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,779,513, 
and  226  town  lots,  valued  at  $116,175. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,913  horses,  1,056  mules,  2  jacks  and 
jennies,  181  goats,  7,538  cattle,  17,655  hogs,  and  3,147  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $7,202.77;  pensions,  $1,025.62; 
schools,  $8,010.71;  county,  $8,449.76. 

Population— white,  9,224;  colored,  12,018;  total,  21,242. 


172  lIAND-liOOK    OF    NOKTil    CAKOLINA. 


ONSLOW. 

Onslow  County  resembles  in  bu'ge  degree  the  adjoining  counties  of 
Carteret  and  Jones.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  White  Oak  Swamp  lies  in 
its  northern  section,  and  from  it  How  m  'St  of  the  streams  by  which  the 
county  is  drained.  The  best  agricultural  lands  of  the  county  lie  along 
the  margin  of  this  swamp.  A  great  part  of  it  is  drained  southward 
into  New  River,  which  traverses  the  entire  length  of  the  county  from 
north  to  south.  This  river,  for  one-half  of  iis  length,  is  a  broad,  navi- 
gable bay,  from  one  to  two  miles  wide,  and  is  famous  for  its  fine  oysters 
and  fish.  On  both  sides  of  it  are  large  tracts  of  upland  piny  woods, 
with  a  gray  sandy  soil,  wliich  are  admirably  adapted  to  the  production 
of  cotton.  Nearer  the  sea-coast  and  its  fringe  of  sounds  ttie  soils  are 
more  sandy,  and  are  covered  with  long-leaf  pines  as  their  principal 
growth,  a  similar  large  tract  occupying  its  north-western  section.  There 
are  numerous  narrow  fringes  of  cypress  swamps  along  the  various 
streams.  A  portion  of  the  south-western  side  of  this  county  is  pene- 
trated by  the  Holly  Shelter  pocoson.  The  productions  of  this  county 
are  similar  to  those  of  Jones. 

Jones  and  Onslow  were  settled  early  in  the  eighteentli  century  by 
French  Huguenots  and  German  Palatinates;  their  descendants  to  this 
day  are  fine  types  of  both  races;  and  the  names  of  their  ancestors  are 
stiil  preserved  in  their  families.  There  is  a  large  body  of  land  lying 
in  these  two  counties  known  as  the  White  Oak  Swamp.  It  covers  an 
area  of  eighty-six  thousand  acres.  It  is  one  of  the  heaviest  timbered 
tracts  in  the  Atlantic  States.  The  oaks  are  of  huge  dimensions,  unknown 
in  northern  climes;  the  pines  are  of  enormous  girth,  and  frequently 
attain  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet;  the  poplars  and  cypress 
are  also  of  huge  dimensions.  The  soil  is  as  fertile  as  the  best  lands  of 
Hyde  County,  and  they  are  classed  as  the  most  enduring  and  richest 
lands  in  the  United  States.  This  bjdy  of  swamp  lands  belong  to  the 
State. 

The  coasts  of  Onslow  are  lined  with  the  "Banks,"  from  which  they 
are  separated  by  sounds  of  from  a  mile  to  two  miles  in  width,  and  of 
depth  only  navigable  for  small  vessels.  Through  these  banks,  generally 
opposite  a  stream  making  out  from  the  mainland,  there  is  a  break  or 
inlet,  with  a  shifting  bar  of  from  five  to  six  feet  deep,  and  through  this 
is  access  to  the  inner  waters.  Within  the  bars  and  up  these  streams  is 
the  great  store  of  fish  and  oysters  now  engaging  public  attention  and 
the  care  of  legislation. 

The  soil  of  Onslow  is  productive  in  cotton,  corn,  peas,  potatoes,  and 
is  especially  favorable  to  the  perfection  of  the  ground-pea  or  nut,  which, 
in  tiie  decomposed  shelly  soils  in  the  vicinity  of  the  coast,  claims  the 
chief  attention  of  the  farmers  and  constitutes  the  most  profitable  crop. 

The  Wilmington,  Onslow  and  East  Carolina  Railroad  connects  Wil- 
mington ami  Jacksonville.  It  is  53  miles  long,  and  may  be  extended 
to  Newbern. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  173 

Jacksonville,  the  county  seat,  contains  170  inhabitants  and  Richlands 
192. 

Onslow  County  has  285,18G  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $824,613,  and 
100  town  lots,  valued  at  $33,240. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  710  horses,  588  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  295  goats,  6,406  cattle,  191,718  hogs,  4,061  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  uses,  $3,450.71;  pensions,  $521.73; 
schools,  $4,690.91 ;  county,  $3,963.40. 

Population— white,  7,892;  colored,  2,911 ;  total,  10,303. 

ORANGE. 

Orange  County,  historically,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  counties 
in  the  State.  It  was  formed  about  the  year  1752,  and  its  healthfulness 
and  the  richness  of  its  soil  soon  made  it  populous  and  prosperous.  It 
took  very  decided  part  in  the  troubles  that  led  to  Tryon's  suppression 
of  the  opposition  of  the  Regulators,  and  also  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. It  was  in  this  county  that  Lord  Cornwallis  prepared  himself  for 
the  struggle  at  Guilford  Court  House;  and  it  was  at  its  county  seat 
(Hillsboro)  that  the  convention  to  discuss  the  Constitution  submitted  to 
the  States  for  ratification  was  held  ;  and  for  generations  the  county  was 
noted  for  the  prominence  of  its  public  men. 

This  county  is  at  an  elevation  of  about  600  feet  above  the  sea.  The 
climate  is  remarkably  health}'  and  free  from  malaria.  The  winters  are 
very  mild  and  the  summers  are  not  oppressive.  The  county  is  rolling, 
and  is  well  drained  by  natural  streams.  The  products  are  corn,  wheat 
oats,  cotton,  rye,  barley,  grass,  tobacco  and  potatoes.  The  soil  is  espe- 
cially adapted  to  the  raising  of  fine-grade  tobacco,  of  wheat,  of  hay  and 
potatoes.  Cattle,  horses,  hogs,  sheep  and  goats  are  easily  raised  and 
thrive  here.  Apples,  pears,  peaches,  grapes,  plums  and  figs  grow  in  the 
greatest  abundance  and  of  fine  quality.  There  is  a  large  and  growing 
industry  in  diying  fruits  and  in  shipping  them  also  fresh  to  the  North- 
ern markets.  Deposits  of  gold  and  iron  are  very  abundant  all  through 
the  county.  The  Iron  IMountain,  near  Chapel  Hill,  contains  inexhausti- 
ble ores  of  excellent  quality.  Soapstone  and  whetstone  quarries  of  the 
finest  grain  exist  in  large  deposits. 

The  south-eastern  seciion  of  the  county  is  drained  by  the  tributaries 
of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and  has  a  low,  undulating  tract  of  land,  with 
gra}'-  and  yellow  sandy  and  clay  loam  soils  and  mixed  oak  and  pine 
forests.  The  larger  part  of  this  county  is  characterized  by  oak  forests 
and  red-clay  soils,  with  an  intermixture  in  the  poorer  sections  and  on 
the  slaty  hills  of  short  leaf  pine.  The  region  described  as  slate  hills  is 
characterized  mainly  by  a  gray  gravelly  loam  soil.  Cotton  is  cultivated 
to  considerable  extent,  the  crop  reaching  about  2,000  bales  a  year.  It 
has  long  had  pre-eminence,  along  with  that  of  Anson  County,  of  being 
the  best  upland  cotton  raised  in  the  United  States.  Tobacco  is  a  large 
and  valuable  crop,  much  of  it  being  "bright  yellow."  The  crop  of  1889 
is  given  in  the  census  returns  of  1890  at  782,713  pounds. 

The  University  of  North  Carolina  is  located  at  Chapel  Hill,  in  this 
CO  untv. 


174  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  North  Carolina  Kailroad  passes  through  the  county,  and  from  it, 
at  University  iStaiion,  a  branch  line  of  ten  miles  extends  to  Chapel  Hill. 

The  streams — the  head-waters  of  the  Neiis.^,  Euo  and  Little  River — 
are  small,  but  afford  good  water-power.  New  Hope  is  an  alHuent  of 
Haw  River. 

Hillsboro,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  662.  Chapel  Hill, 
the  seat  of  the  University,  has  1,027. 

Orange  County  h  is  2o0.425  acies  of  land,  valued  at  $1,040,290;  and 
35.S  town  lots,  valued  at  $212,630. 

Of  domesiic  animal-  there  are  1,782  hor.-es,  804  mules,  7  jacks  and 
jennies,  i'lS  goats,  4,581  cattle,  7,()70  ho^is,  4,ob3  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  8ta  e  u-e,  $5,240.24;  pensions,  $734.44; 
schools,  $5,533.04  ;  county,  $5,639.62 

Population— white,  9,705;  colored,  5,243;  total,  14,943. 

PAMLICO. 

This  county  was  formed  from  the  counties  of  Craven  and  Beaufort. 
It  is  peiietro.ted  to  the  interior  by  an  arm  of  Pamlico  iSound  callci  Bay 
River,  and  also  by  a  stream  (Broad  Creek),  both  navigable  for  vessels 
drawing  eight  feet  of  water.  Ii-  is  w.ished  en  the  soutii  side  by  the 
waters  of  Neuse  River,  on  the  fast  by  the  Pamlico  Sound,  and  on  the 
north  by  Pamlico  River.  By  far  the  larger  portion  of  the  county  is  in 
for.  St,  theie  be  ng  only  about  one-tenth  of  the  land  under  cuhivation. 
The  lands  are  of  the  sainw  character  as  those  of  Craven  County.  There 
are  immense  tracts  of  unreclaimed  swamp  tiiat  can  be  easily  drained, 
as  the  fall  is  greit;  often  the  fa  1  is  thiriy  to  forty  feet.  The  farms  are 
generally  located  in  tlie  vicinity  of  the  water  courses.  There  is  no  part 
of'  the  entire  State  that  presnuis  great'  r  taeiliiie-  for  farmers  than  Pam- 
lico County.  The  land  is  rich,  ab'indant  and  ch-ap,  and  the  facilities 
for  transportation,  either  coastwise  or  to  Newbein,  are  good.  The  crops 
are  cotion,  c  'rn,  oats,  rice  and  })Otatoes.  Tlie  pine  forests  are  cotnpara- 
tively  untouclie.l.  The  fore-ts  of  oak,  cypre;S,  holly  and  gum  are 
immense,  and  are  as  yet  scarcely  disturl)ed. 

There  are  three  floui'ishing  vil'ages  situated  on  Bay  River— Stone- 
wall. Bayboro  and  Vandemere.  Bayburo  is  the  county  seat,  and  has  a 
population  of  252 

The  county  nas  no  railroad,  and  depends  for  its  transportatien  alto- 
gether on  the  water.  But  in  tiiis  it  has  munilicent  advantages,  lor  its 
situation  is  nearly  insular,  ami  the  bri)ad  estuary  of  Bay  River  nearly 
bisects  it.  Tiiis  b  )dy  of  water  is  noted  for  its  line  oysters,  and  all  the 
shores  abound  in  fish. 

Pamlico  County  has  134,682  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $321,751;  and 
150  town  lot-*,  valued  at  $i4,78l. 

(Jf  domestic  animals  there  are  388  horses,  241  mules,  253  goats,  4,376 
cattle,  9,252  hogs,  and  1,531  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $1,633.78;  pensions,  $266.16; 
schools,  $2,990  35;  county,  $4,092.93. 

Population — white,  4,767;  colored,  2,379;  total,  7,146. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIPJS.  175 


PASQUOTANK. 

Pasquotank  is  a  long,  narrow  strip  of  territory  paralKl  to  Camden 
County,  and  is  of  siuailar  topographical  situation  and  agricultural 
features.  It  is  bordered  eastward  and  westward  by  two  bay-like  arms 
of  the  sound,  Pasquotank  River  and  Little  River,  both  of  which  take 
their  rise  in  the  Great  Dismal  Swamp.  The  upper  and  middle  portions, 
there'ore,  belong  to  the  general  description  of  swampy  land  and  semi- 
swamps.  Near  the  streams  there  are  generally  strips  of  swamp  proper, 
with  gum,  cypress  and  juniper  forests,  but  farther  from  them  are  semi- 
swamps  and  oak  and  pine  flats,  with  oak,  hickory,  short-leaf  pine,  ash, 
maple,  black  gum,  and  holly.  These  lands  are  of  greit  fertility.  The 
southern  end  of  the  peninsula  on  the  sound  is,  as  usual,  sand}',  piny 
woods.  Much  cotton  is  produced,  and  lumbering  siill  c  institutes  an 
item  of  consequence,  as  also  in  all  these  Albemarle  counties.  Truck 
farming  is  also  assuming  large  proportions,  and  the  raising  of  early 
potatoes  for  the  Northern  market  has  recently  become  one  ot  the  most 
profitable  industries.  All  these  Albemarle  counties  have  unlimited 
facilities  for  transportation  through  their  numerous  bays,  rivers,  and 
sounds,  which  are  connected  with  Norfolk  harbor  through  the  Dismal 
Swamp  and  the  Currituck  canals,  and  also  by  railway. 

The  great  water  facilities  possessed  by  Pasquotank  County,  the  exist- 
ence of  railroad  communication,  and  also  canal  navigation  through  the 
Dismal  Swamp,  both  to  Norfolk,  and  thence  to  the  Northern  cities, 
together  with  the  favor  of  ^oil  and  climate,  have  given  great  impetus 
to  truck  farming,  which,  at  many  points,  has  superseded  other  agricul- 
tural interests.  The  same  facilities  of  transportation  give  activity  to  the 
business  of  shipping  fish  on  ice,  and  during  the  fishing  season  the 
animation  is  unceasing. 

Elizabeth  City,  the  county  sea*,  has  a  population  of  3,251.  Favor- 
ably situated  on  Pasquotank  River,  at  the  head  of  the  navigation  of 
the  sounds,  also  at  the  southern  end  of  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal,  and 
being  traversed  by  the  railroad  from  Norfolk  to  Edenton,  it  possesses 
advantages  it  is  prompt  to  improve.  Its  commerce  is  large,  and  its 
lumber  and  fishing  is  very  great,  and  the  trucking  business  is  likewise 
active. 

Pasquotank  County  has  118,772  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $600,946, 
and  598  town  lots,  valued  at  $403,041. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,393  horses,  392  mules,  309  goats, 
4,526  cattle,  9,325  hogs,  1,644  sheep. 

Produ  t  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $4,420.54;  pensions,  $556.22; 
schools,  $5,687.57;  county,  $9,594.47. 

Population — white,  5,201 ;  colored,  5,547;  total,  10,748. 

PENDER. 

Pender  County  is  bounded  in  part  on  the  south  by  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  with  its  fringe  of  sounds,  marshes,  and  dunes,  and  is  drained 
southward  by  the  waters  of  the  Northeast  Cape  Fear  River.     Holly 


176  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Shelter  pocosoii  occupies  a  large  part  of  the  south-eastern  section,  and 
from  it  flow  numerous  creeks  into  the  above  mentioned  river,  while 
others  flow  directly  into  the  Atlantic.  The  central  portion  and  larger 
part  of  this  great  pocoson,  which  contains  about  100  square  miles,  is 
quite  barren,  but  around  its  margin,  especially  toward  the  river,  are 
considerable  tracts  of  white-oak  flats,  canebrake,  and  swam}i  lands, 
with  their  characteristic  growths  and  soils.  In  the  north-eastern  section 
lies  the  half  of  another  similar  pocoson  nearly  as  large,  called  Angola 
Bay,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  western  half  of  the  county  is  a  third  but 
much  smaller  swamp  of  the  same  general  character.  The  western  side 
of  the  county  for  the  breadth  of  from  six  to  eight  miles  belongs  to  the 
region  of  upland  piny  woods,  the  principal  growth  being  long-leaf 
pines,  with  an  undergrowth  of  oaks,  hickory,  dogwood,  etc.,  and  a  sandy 
soil;  but  some  of  it  approaches  the  character  of  the  regular  "sand- 
hills," with  pine  and  oak  flats  here  and  there.  Along  the  streams  aie 
generally  alluvial  belts  or  swamps  and  oak  flats,  which  are  the  corn 
lands  of  the  county.  A  savannah  of  several  square  miles  is  found  in 
the  upper  end  of  the  county,  which  merges  northward  into  a  barren 
pocoson  of  still  greater  extent.  Marl  abounds  in  all  parts  of  the  county, 
and  eocene  limestone  is  found  along  the  principal  river  above  named. 
These  add  greatly  to  its  agricultural  advantages. 

The  cotton  product  is  inconsiderable;  the  remaining  products  are 
corn,  rice,  potatoes,  lumber  and  naval  stores. 

The  presence  of  marl  and  of  the  eocene  limestone,  especially  along 
the  western  margin  of  the  Northeast  River,  is  indicated  by  the  vigorous 
forest  growth  of  hardwood  trees,  and,  when  they  are  removed,  by  the 
generous  response  of  the  soil  to  cultivation.  The  locality  known  as 
Rocky  Point  very  early  drew  attention  to  it  from  its  exuberant  fertility, 
and  for  more  than  a  century  and  a-half  has  been  noted  for  its  exhaust- 
less  productiveness.  In  recent  years  this  section  of  Pender  County  has 
been  advantageously  applied  to  truck  farming  in  all  its  branches,  early 
vegetables  of  all  kinds,  small  fruits  and  berries  maturing  at  a  period 
so  early  as  to  bring  them  on  the  Northern  markets  in  quick  succession 
to  the  early  crops  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina. 

The  Wihnington  and  AVeldon  Railroad  ])asses  through  the  county 
from  north  to  south,  and  the  North-west  and  North-east  branches  of  the 
Cape  Fear  River,  and  Black  River,  provide  ample  avenues  for  trans- 
portation. 

Burgaw,  the  county  seat^has  a  population  of  300,  and  Point  Caswell 
and  Lillington,  villages,  have  respectively  jio{)uUitions  of  127  and  80. 

Pender  Countv  has  341,280  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $835,851 ;  and 
205  town  lots,  valued  at  $38,000. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  559  horses,  414  mules,  4  jacks  and 
jennies,  0,023  cattle,  18,303  hogs,  4,360  sheep,  and  708  goats. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  purpo-ses,  $3,1 04.83 ;  pensions,  $475.70 ; 
schools,  $3,054.42;  county,  $3,807.35. 

Population— white,  5,907;  colored,  0,547;  tolal,  12,514. 


DESCRIPTION   OF    COUNTIES.  177 


PERQUIMANS. 


Perquimans  County  is  iu  every  respect  twin  to  Pasquotank,  and 
northward  it  extends  into  the  Great  Dismal  Swamp.  A  considerable 
percentage  of  the  surface  of  Perquimans  is  occupied  by  what  is  com- 
monly called  swamp  land,  though  for  the  most  part  it  is  drainable  and 
cultivatable.  These  swamp  lands,  which  are  better  described  as  semi- 
swamps  and  oak  and  pine  flats,  are  a  repetition  of  those  before  described, 
and  have  a  similar  soil,  which  varies  from  a  fine  gray  loam  to  a  dark 
mucky  soil  of  high  fertility.  Along  the  Perquimans  River,  which  is 
an  arm  of  Albemarle  Sound,  lie  in  a  south-easterly  direction  narrow 
zones  of  cypress  swamps,  beyond  which,  northward  and  southward,  are 
narrow  tracts  of  sandy  soil,  with  forests  mainly  of  long-  leaf  pine.  These 
long-leaf  pine  tracts,  which  occupy  the  divides  between  the  streams, 
project,  in  the  form  of  promontories,  into  the  margin  of  the  sound. 
These  promontories,  extending  between  sheets  of  navigable  water, 
deeply  indenting  the  land,  offer  uncommon  facilities  to  the  farmer,  who 
has  transportation  for  his  produce  so  ready  at  hand,  and  the  richness 
of  the  soil  and  mildness  of  the  climate  assures  him  of  large  returns  for 
his  labor.  The  numerous  waterways,  and  the  passage  of  the  railroad 
through  such  an  extent  of  the  county,  has  greatly  promoted  the  truck- 
ing business,  the  market  of  New  York  being  at  no  greater  distance  than 
is  overcome  in  a  trip  of  twenty-four  hours.  The  same  facilities  favor 
the  fishing  interests.  The  shores  of  all  the  rivers,  bays  and  creeks 
abound  with  shad,  herring,  rock-bass  and  other  fish. 

Hertford,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  733. 

Perquimans  County  has  138,847  acres  of  land,  valued  at  .$687;120; 
and  265  town  lots,  valued  at  $101,840. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,217  horse,  tJG4  mules,  1  jack,  259 
goats,  5,254  cattle,  10,494  hogs,  and  2,768  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $3,566.50;  pensions,  $517.65; 
schools,  $5,020.71 ;  county,  $3,798.70. 

Population— white,  4,719;  colored,  4,574;  total,  9,293. 

PERSON. 

Person  County  lies  outside  of  the  cotton  belt,  and  belongs  to  the 
bright  tobacco  zone.  Near  the  middle  of  it  rise  several  low  mountain 
ridges  of  granite  and  slate,  with  oak  and  pine  forests.  These  attain 
an  altitude  of  about  1,000  feet  (the  general  elevation  being  from  600  to 
700  feet),  and  have  a  thin  gravelly  and  sandy  soil,  while  the  other  sec- 
tions are  alternately  of  this  character  and  of  red-clay  soils  of  greater 
fertility.  To  the  latter  class  belong  especially  the  north-western  and 
south-eastern  sections.  The  chief  agricultural  interest  is  the  produc- 
tion of  tobacco  of  a  high  grade,  in  which  industry  this  is  one  of  the 
leading  counties.  To  this  crop  the  light  sandy  soils  are  peculiarly 
adapted.  These  light  soils  produce  that  high-priced  grade  known  as 
bright  yellow,  and  in  this  is  surpassed  b}^  no  other  county  in  the  State. 
12 


178  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  southern  side  of  the  county  most  abounds  in  these  soils,  but  in  the 
northern  section,  among  the  high  rolling  lands  of  Hj'co  and  Country 
Line  Creeks,  the  product  is  equally  abundant  and  in  no  way  inferior. 
The  crop  for  1889  is  given  by  the  census  at  2,327,201  pounds.  Wheat, 
corn  and  other  grains  thrive. 

The  mineral  riches  of  the  county  are  confined  to  copper,  mines  of 
which  are  found  in  the  north-eastern  corner  of  the  county  and  extend- 
ing over  into  Granville,  and  are  believed  to  be  of  great  value.  Iron 
ores  of  value  are  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Mt.  Tirzah,  and  have  been 
turned  to  profitable  account,  especially  during  the  war,  when  ihey  sup- 
plied castings  for  household  and  farm  use. 

The  elevation  of  Person  County  assures  it  as  the  fountain-head  of  the 
tributaries  to  the  Neuse  and  Tar  Rivers,  and  to  streams  flowing  north- 
ward into  the  Dan. 

The  Durham  and  Lynchburg  Railroad  passes  through  the  county, 
providing  needed  facilities  for  transportation. 

Roxboro,  the  county  seat,  had,  by  the  census  of  LSOO,  a  population  of 
421 ;  but  there  has  been  rapid  increase  since  its  acquirement  of  raih'oad 
communication.  It  is  now  the  seat  of  important  tobacco  factories,  sales 
warehouses  and  other  evidences  of  newly  created  business. 

Person  County  has  203,423  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,046,218;  and 
81  town  lots,  valued  at  $73,150. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,778  horses,  890  mules,  10  jacks  and 
jennies,  47  goats,  4,183  cattle,  7,547  hogs,  3.302  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $4,799.99;  pensions,  $711.38; 
schools,  $5,834.46  ;  county,  $5,659.30. 

Population — white,  8,251;  colored,  6,900;  total,  15,151. 

PITT. 

This  county  lies  west  of  the  county  of  Beaufort,  and  is  penetrated  its 
whole  length  by  Tar  River,  which  is  navigable  at  all  seasons  for  light- 
draft  steamers.  The  soil  is  extremely  varied,  probably  more  so  than  in 
an}'  other  county  of  the  Pamlico  section.  In  the  eastern  part  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Tar  River,  adjoining  Beaufort  County,  the  soil  may 
be  characterized  as  a  light  sandy  loam,  with  a  greyish  clay  subsoil.  In 
the  ujtper  part,  or  rather  the  north-western  })art,  the  soil  is  generally 
underlaid  with  a  stiff  red  clay;  immediately  on  the  left  or  the  north 
side  of  Tar  River,  the  lands  lying  along  the  river  the  entire  length  of 
the  county  east  and  west,  are  of  a  more  distinctive  character,  of  a  light 
sandy  loam.  Farther  north, toward  the  Martni  County  line,  they  assume 
a  dilterent  character,  are  what  may  be  classed  as  a  heavy  loam.  There 
are  also  bodies  of  swamp  lands  cleared  that  partake  of  the  fertility 
characteristic  of  that  class  of  lands  in  Kastern  Carolina.  The  soil 
appears  to  the  observer  to  run  in  streaks,  and  the  lines  of  demarcation 
are  distinctly  marked.  Their  general  character  is  that  of  fertility,  and 
easy  of  tillage.  They  yield  excellent  crops  of  cotton,  corn,  oats  and 
rye.  In  the  last  century  tobacco  was  one  of  the  great  staples  on  Tar 
River.     Within  a  brief  period   the  cultivation   of   tobacco  has  been 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  179 

resumed,  and  promises  to  assume  large  proportions,  the  quality  being 
very  desirable,  and  the  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  very  favorable. 
Cotton  is  at  present  the  most  important  crop,  the  annual  yield  being 
from  12,000  to  16,000  bales.  The  land  is  productive  in  every  other  sub- 
ject of  culture — corn,  wheat,  rice,  peas,  potatoes — and  the  whole  soil  being- 
underlaid  with  marl,  perpetual  ferlility  is  assured.  Fruits  thrive  lux- 
uriantly, and  nowhere  is  the  grape  more  prolific  or  more  certain  in  its 
yield.  The  finest  varieties  of  native  grapes  have  originated  here, 
among  them  that  new  choice  variety  of  the  Jltis  Vulpina,  the  James 
grape,  a  black  variety  of  thescuppernong,  but  larger  and  better  flavored, 
and  bearing  transportation  better. 

Pitt  County  is  supplied  with  water  transportation  by  Tar  River, 
which  passes  through  its  centre,  and  by  Contentnea  Creek,  which  washes 
its  southern  border,  the  navigation  of  which  has  been  opened  b}'  the 
General  Government. 

A  railroad  from  Weldon  via  Scotland  Neck,  a  branch  of  the  Wil- 
mington and  Weldon  Railroad,  passes  through  Greenville,  with  its 
present  terminus  at  Kinston. 

Greenville,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  on  Tar  River,  and  has  the 
benefit  of  steamboat  navigation,  and  has  a  population  of  1,937. 

Pitt  County  has  369,598  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,795,162,  and  534 
town  lots,  valued  at  $270,642. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  2,181  horses,  1,625  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  1,172  goats,  8,371  cattle,  24,778  hogs,  and  1,722  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $8,917.78;  pensions,  $1,288.84; 
schools,  $10,882.47;  county,  $7,224.21. 

Population — white,  13,192;  colored,  12,327;  total,  25,519. 

POLK. 

Polk  is  the  southernmost  of  the  Piedmont  counties,  lying  upon  the 
border  of  South  Carolina,  and  of  the  cotton  belt,  which  barely  enters 
its  south-eastern  corner.  Three-fourths  of  the  territory  of  the  county 
is  very  mountainous,  as  it  is  bounded  westward  by  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
its  western  and  northern  sections  are  penetrated  by  heavy  and  long- 
spurs,  thrown  out  from  that  range,  of  equal  height  or  greater.  It  is 
crossed  from  west  to  east  and  nearly  its  entire  territory  is  drained  by 
the  waters  of  Green  River,  one  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Broad. 
Along  this  river  valley,  as  well  as  on  some  of  the  tributaries,  are  wide 
stretches  of  bottom  lands  of  clay  and  sandy  loams.  The  middle  part 
of  the  county  is  a  somewhat  broken  plateau  of  1,000  feet  elevation,  and 
has  a  gravelly  and  slaty  soil  of  a  light  color  and  loose  texture  and  low 
fertility,  and  inferior  forests  of  pine,  oak,  and  chestnut.  The  south- 
eastern section  is  of  the  same  character.  A  large  part  of  the  uplands 
and  of  the  mountain  slopes  in  the  west  and  north  has  forests  largely  of 
oak  and  a  yellowish  or  gray  loamy  soil  of  good  quality.  In  the  higher 
parts,  except  where  the  soil  is  of  the  better  grades,  chestnut  and  chest- 
nut oak  are  abundant.  The  principal  agricultural  pursuit  is  the  pro- 
duction of  grain  crops.  There  are  several  gold  mines  in  the  middle 
and  southern  sections. 


180  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  cotton  crop  of  the  county  does  not  exceed  500  bales  yearly. 
Grains  and  fruits  are  the  chief  objects  of  industrial  pursuit.  The  most 
famous  of  the  thermal  belts  lies  in  this  county,  and  is  largely  engaging 
the  attention  of  orchard ists  and  vignerons.  The  climate  is  regarded  as 
favorable  in  pulmonary  weakness,  and  health  resorts  have  been  estab- 
lished at  several  points,  notably  at  Tryon  City  and  Saluda. 

The  county  is  traversed  by  the  Asheville  and  Spartanburg  Railroad. 

Columbus  is  the  countv  seat. 

Polk  County  has  140,470  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $506,332,  and  208 
town  lots,  valued  at  $54,400. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  423  horses,  440  mules,  5  jacks  and 
jennies,  31  goats,  3,221  cattle,  5  921  hogs,  and  1,680  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $2,151.15;  pensions,  $312.38; 
schools,  §2,215.13;  coun'y,  $2,679.52. 

Population — white,  4,807;  colored,  1,095;  total,  5,902. 

RANDOLPH. 

This  county,  in  general  profile,  is  an  inclined  plane,  dipping  south- 
ward, and  making  a  descent  of  more  than  400  feet  from  an  altitude  of 
about  800  feet  on  the  north  to  an  altitude  of  300  or  400  feet  on  the 
south,  a  rate  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  feet  per  mile.  The  surface  is  diver- 
sified by  subordinate  plains  and  extensive  hilly  districts,  and  marked  in 
the  west  and  south-west  by  enormous  hills  that  "  approach  the  measure 
and  dignity  of  mountains."  The  most  important  of  the  physical  fea- 
tures are  the  two  river  basins  that  extend  from  north  to  south  across 
the  county  in  nearly  parallel  depressions.  The  Deep  River  basin  com- 
prises most  of  the  northern  and  all  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  county — 
Deep  River  entering  the  county  near  the  middle  of  the  northern 
boundary  and  running  a  tortuous  course  to  the  south-east  corner  of  the 
county.  The  Uwharrie  basin  occupies  the  western  side,  the  I'wharrie 
River  running  parallel  to  the  western  boundary,  and  only  a  few  miles 
from  it.  Both  of  the  above-named  rivers  have  numerous  and  large 
tributaries,  fed  by  bold  and  constant  springs,  which  afford  an  ample 
water-supply  during  the  longest  droughts.  Ik'tween  these  two  river 
basins  is  the  divide,  or  water-shed,  extending  from  the  north-west  corner 
to  the  centre  of  the  county,  thence  southward  into  Moore  and  Mont- 
gomery. 

The  western  and  southern  sections  of  the  county  are  characterized  by 
the  occurrence  of  sharp  ridges  and  hills  of  slate,  with  light-gray,  sandy, 
gravelly  soil  ;  but  the  U))per  portion  is  much  lei^s  broken,  and  consists 
of  broad,  flattish  swells,  which  constitute  the  divides  between  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Haw,  Deep  and  Uwharrie  rivers,  the  latter  being  one  of 
the  tributaries  of  the  Yadkin.  The  soils  of  this  portion  of  the  county 
are,  for  the  most  part,  gray,  gravelly  loams,  alternated  hero  and  there 
with  red-clay  lands.  (Jotton  is  produced  in  only  a  small  part  of  the 
southern  half  of  the  county,  the  production  of  small  grains  constituting 
its  principal  agricultural  feature. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  181 

Agriculture  is  the  leading  industry  in  the  county.  The  bottom  lands 
along  the  water-courses,  and  the  adjacent  coves  and  hills,  are  naturally 
very  productive,  ranking  among  the  best  farming  lauds  on  the  Atlantic 
slope,  while  the  uplands  possess  a  fair  degree  of  fertility,  and  return 
generous  results  under  improved  methods  of  cultivation. 

This  great  variet}'  of  soil — the  alluvial  bottoms,  the  clayey  slopes, 
the  rocky  hills,  and  the  sandy  plains — gives  rise  to  great  variety  in  the 
productions  of  the  county.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  Randolph  can 
produce  successfully  and  profitably  everything  that  can  be  produced  in 
ihe  State.  It  can  produce  the  rice,  peanut,  cotton  and  sweet  potato  of 
the  east  and  the  grains,  grasses,  fruits  and  fine  tobacco  of  the  west. 

The  range  of  hills,  known  as  the  Uwharrie  Mountains,  in  the  south- 
western part  of  the  count}',  constitute  a  part  of  the  same  formation  so 
prolific  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Montgomery  in  gold;  and  this  metal 
has  been  produced  in  several  mines  of  note  in  Randolph,  and  has  long 
been  an  object  of  unsystematic  search. 

The  county  is  traversed  by  Deep  River,  and  as  that  stream  cuts 
through  the  high  hills  which  become,  as  they  roll  away  to  the  south, 
the  Uwharrie  Mountains,  provide  great  water-power,  applied  to  nine 
cotton  factories,  which  have  been  prosperously  at  work  for  many  years. 
These  factories  are  now  made  accessible  both  by  railroad  from  High 
Point,  on  the  North  Carolina  road,  and  from  a  point  on  the  Cape  Fear 
and  Yadkin  Valley  road. 

Trinity  College,  in  the  north-west  corner  of  the  county,  was  founded 
in  1842  by  Rev.  B.  Craven,  D.D.  It  is  now  in  process  of  removal  to 
Durham. 

The  county  is  touched  on  the  north-west  corner  by  the  Norih  Caro- 
lina Raih^oad,  and  on  the  north-east  corner  by  the  Cape  Fear  and 
Yadkin  Valley  road,  and  is  penetrated  by  the  branches  of  those  roads 
already  referred  to.  The  first-named  branch  extends  to  Asheboro,  the 
county  seat,  which  has  a  population  of  510.  Randleman  has  a  popu- 
lation of  1,754;  Worthville,  of  328;  Archdale,  of  224;  Trinity,  of  380; 
and  Liberty,  of  366.  Franklinsville  and  Ramseur,  considerable  vil- 
lages, have  their  populations  included  in  the  returns  of  their  townships. 

Randolph  County  has  453,469  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $2,058,134; 
and  535  town  lots,  valued  at  $164,194. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  3,115  horses,  2,164  mules,  17  jacks  and 
jennies,  200  goats,  12,020  cattle,  22,121  hogs,  and  16,537  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $9,266.60;  pensions,  $1,370.18; 
schools,  $11,863.24;  county,  $921.73. 

Population— white,  21,848;  colored,  3,347  ;  total,  25,195. 

RICHMOND. 

Richmond  County  also  lies  on  the  border  of  the  long-leaf  pine  belt, 
its  eastern  and  southern  portions  (forming  not  less  than  three-fourths 
of  its  territory)  belonging  to  the  latter,  while  its  western  and  northern 
parts,  lying  along  and  near  the  Great  Pee  Dee  River,  belong  more 
properly,  in  their  agricultural  features,  to  the  zone  of  oak  and  pine 


182  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 

sandy  hills,  being  cj^uite  liilly  and  in  some  places  rugged.  The  slopes 
of  the  hills  on  the  river  front  and  its  tributaries  are  quite  steep  and 
broken,  and  have  a  clay  loam  soil,  which  is  covered  by  oak  and  short- 
leaf  pine  forests.  In  the  north-western  corner,  on  the  Pee  Dee  and  its 
tributaries,  are  wide  tracts  of  level  gray  loam  soils,  originally  covered 
with  heavy  oak  forests.  Through  the  eastern  portion  of  the  county,  in 
a  north  and  south  direction,  lies  a  considerable  tract  of  pine  barrens, 
which  is  very  sandy  and  unproductive.  The  streams  which  drain  the 
south-eastern  section  of  the  county  (one-third  of  its  territory)  flow  into 
Lumber  River,  and  are  margined  through  their  whole  course  by  allu- 
vial tracts  and  cypress  swamps,  the  divides  between  these  parallel  and 
south-flowing  streams  being  occupied  by  level  upland  piny-woods  tracts 
having  a  gray  sandy  loam  soil  of  ftiir  productiveness.  Cotton  is  the 
chief  single  interest,  but  the  product  of  grain  is  large,  and  the  turpen- 
tine and  lumber  interests  are  still  important,  though  there  has  been 
rapid  diminution,  almost  extirpation,  of  the  pine  forests  along  the  lines 
of  the  railroads,  where  saw-mills  were  erected  at  every  convenient  point. 

No  county  presents  more  striking  contrasts  in  its  soils,  timbers  and 
productions  than  does  Richmond  County.  Its  eastern  and  south-eastern 
sections  are  interlaced  with  swamps,  but  readily  drained,  and  produc- 
tive in  cotton  and  corn.  The  centre  and  part  of  the  south  is  pine  bar- 
ren, with  no  invitation  to  agricultural  work,  while  the  northern  and 
western  sections  are  hilly,  with  a  red  or  rocky  gray  soil.  These  last, 
especially  such  as  lie  along  the  Pee  Dee,  are  the  most  productive  cotton 
lands,  and  in  the  production  of  this  staple  the  county  has  long  held 
high  rank,  the  product  being  from  12,000  to  15,000  bales  annually. 
The  streams  which  originate  in  the  pine  lands  and  tend  towards  the 
Pee  Dee  River,  at  Rockingham  encounter  a  sudden  and  violent  change 
of  geological  formation — encounter  ledges  of  rock,  precipitate  them- 
selves below  in  lofty  cascades,  and  give  that  commanding  water-power 
which  has  concentrated  at  Rockingham  five  large. cotton  factories. 

Rockingham,  the  county  seat,  is  situated  immediately  on  the  line  of 
division  between  the  sandy  and  the  red-clay  lands.  It  is  important  as 
the  seat  of  the  factories  above  referred  to.  It  has  a  population  of  3,o74, 
including  Rockingham  township  and  Great  Falls  village.  Laurinburg, 
on  the  Carolina  Central  Railroad,  has  a  population  of  1,357. 

The  Carolina  Central  road,  connecting  Wilmington  and  Charlotte, 
passes  through  the  county;  the  Raleigh  and  Augusta  Air-Line  road 
has  its  terminus  at  Hamlet,  and  from  the  same  point  the  Palmetto  road 
extends  to  Cberaw,  8.  ('.,  and  also  from  Hamlet  a  railroad  extends  to 
Gibson,  with  ultimate  terminus  at  liennetlsville,  S.  C. 

Richmond  County  has  440,188  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,206,761; 
and  478  town  lots,  valued  at  $220,551. 

Of  domestic  animals  it  has  1,155  liorses,  1,096  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  51i2  goats,  4,690  cattle,  10,988  hogs,  and  1,493  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  use,  $7,270.29;  pensions,  $1,051.44; 
schools,  $9,021.16;  countv,  $12,710.24. 

Population— white,  10,989:  colored,  12,559;  total,  23,948. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  183 


ROBESON. 


The  soils  of  Robeson  County  are  mainly  those  of  the  ordinary  level 
piny  woods,  but  there  are  belts  of  gum  and  cypress  swamp  along  nearly 
all  of  its  water-courses,  those  on  the  two  main  streams  being  quite  large. 
The  county  is  drained  by  the  upper  waters  of  Lumber  River,  which 
enters  the  Atlantic  through  the  State  of  South  Carolina  at  Georgetown. 
On  the  higher  divides  between  the  streams  the  soil  is  sometimes  quite 
sandy,  in  some  places  reaching  the  character  of  pine  barrens.  The 
lands  are  chiefly  devoted  to  the  culture  of  cotton  and  corn,  but  the  value 
of  the  potato  and  rice  crops  is  quite  considerable.  Turpentine  and 
lumber  are  also  large  interests.  Marl  is  found  abundantly  in  the  lower 
half  of  the  county. 

Robe?on  is  now  the  largest  county  in  the  State.  From  its  extreme 
northern  limit,  where  it  meets  the  counties  of  Cumberland  and  Rich- 
mond, to  its  southern  boundary,  near  Fair  Bluff,  in  Columbus  County, 
it  is  nearly  seventy  miles  long,  while  its  mean  breadth  is  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  miles.  Much  of  the  county  is  covered  with  swamps,  the 
numerous  streams  being  all  margined  with  or  hid  away  in  a  dense 
growth  of  cypress,  gum  and  other  woods,  but  accessible  to  drainage, 
and,  when  drained,  producing  good  crops  of  cotton,  corn  and  rice.  But 
the  principal  object  of  drainage  is  to  obtain  access  to  the  timber  for 
making  shingles,  staves,  etc.,  obtained  from  cypress  and  juniper.  The 
black  gum  abounds  in  these  swamps.  Of  this  wood  it  is  said  :  "This 
timber  has  never  been  developed.  It  cannot  be  split — not  even  by 
lightning.  In  its  green  state  it  is  heavy  and  soft ;  when  seasoned  it  is 
the  strongest  and  lightest  wood  we  know  of,  equaling  hickor}^  in  strength 
and  surpassing  it  in  lightness.  It  is  specially  adapted  to  the  manufac- 
ture of  tool-handles,  wagon-tongues,  coupling-poles,  etc.  It  is  suitable 
for  making  paper  pulp.'' 

Immense  deposits  of  marl  are  found  underlying  the  great  swamps, 
a  suggestive  cause  of  their  fertility  when  drained.  These  swamps  dis- 
charge great  quantities  water  into  the  streams  that  empty  into  Winyah 
Bay,  South  Carolina,  and  have  been  the  channels  through  which  vast 
quantities  of  timber  and  other  products  of  the  State  have  been  taken 
beyond  its  borders.  The  construction  of  railroads  has  diminished  that 
current  of  trade.  The  most  extensively  pursued  avocation  is  that  con- 
nected with  the  products  of  the  forest — timber,  lumber,  shingles,  staves, 
turpentine  and  rosin. 

Cotton  is  produced  to  the  extent  of  about  10,000  bales  annually. 
The  crops  of  corn  and  some  other  of  the  grains  are  large,  and  great 
quantities  of  peas  and  sweet  potatoes  are  made.  About  a  million  and 
a  half  pounds  of  rice  are  made  on  the  beds  of  drained  swamps  or  along 
marshy  borders  of  streams.  The  country  is  suitable  to  most  of  the 
fruits,  and  especially  the  native  varieties  of  the  grape.  The  Flowers 
grape,  a  sport  of  the  T'!  Vhiifera,  and  very  much  prized  for  its  wine- 
making  qualities,  originated  here. 


184  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  upper  part  of  the  county  received  a  large  share  of  that  Scotch 
immigration  which  followed  the  defeat  at  Culloden  in  1746.  The  mid- 
dle and  southern  portions  of  tiie  county  contain  large  numbers  of  mixed 
breed,  in  which  Indian  blood  predominates.  It  is  asserted  that  they 
are  the  descendants  of  the  lost  colony  of  Capt.  John  White,  which, 
despairing  of  help  from  its  founder,  united  its  fortunes  with  the  Croatan 
Indians,  and  eventually  ended  its  wanderings  in  Robeson  County.  The 
State  of  North  Carolina  provides  distinct  schools  for  these  people  under 
the  name  of  Croat ans. 

The  Carolina  Central  Railroad  passes  through  the  county,  and  also 
the  Bennettsville  (S.  C.)  branch  of  the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley, 
and  the  Short-cut  stem  of  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  road,  connect- 
ing Wilson,  N.  C,  and  Florence,  S.  C. 

Lumberton,  the  county  seat,  on  Lumber  River,  has  a  population,  by 
the  census  of  1890,  of  584,  and  Maxton  of  694. 

Robeson  County  has  662,411  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $2,119,177  ;  and 
442  town  lots,  valued  at  ^248,076. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are— horses,  1,824 ;  mules,  2,549  ;  jacks,  1 ; 
goats,  1,595;  cattle,  9,704;  hogs,  38,089;  sheep,  6,678. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  use,  $9,901.42;  pensions,  $1,428.36; 
schools,  §11,864.32;  county,  $11,955.27. 

Population — white,  16,6-9;  colored, including Croatans,  14,854;  total, 
31,483. 

ROCKINGHAM. 

Rockingham  is  a  border  county,  and  belongs  to  the  famous  bright 
tobacco  belt.  It  is  traversed  in  a  northeasterly  course  by  the  waters  of 
the  Dan  River,  and  its  southern  section  is  drained  by  the  upper  tribu- 
taries of  the  Cape  Fear  (Haw)  River.  The  north-western  corner  of 
this  county,  constituting  about  one-third  of  its  territory,  near  the  Vir- 
ginia line  and  north  of  the  Dan  River,  consists  for  the  most  part  of 
elevated  flatfish  ridges  and  swells  having  gray,  yellow,  gravelly  loam 
soils,  while  tfic  southern  and  eastern  two-thirds  of  the  county  consist 
of  alternating  belts  of  these  loams  and  of  red  clays.  Besides  tobacco, 
in  which  this  county  ranks  second,  large  crops  of  grain  are  produced. 
Dan  River,  with  its  tributaries,  furnishes  abundant  water-power,  and 
the  former  stream  is  navigable  in  a  small  way  for  flatboats.  A  bed  of 
semi-bituminous  coal,  three  feet  in  thickness,  and  of  good  quality,  out- 
crops in  the  eastern  section,  but  it  has  been  but  little  mined. 

This  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  tobacco  j)roducing  counties  — the 
larger  portion  of  it,  even  on  the  heavier  bottoms  of  the  Dan  and  tribu- 
taries, being  largely  devoted  to  that,  purpo.se.  The  crop  of  1889  is 
placed  in  the  census  tables  at  4,189,415  pounds.  But  the  lands  are  also 
suitable  to  wheat  and  other  grains,  of  which  large  crops  are  made. 

The  Dan  River  runs  through  the  north-western  corner  of  the  county, 
with  a  gentle  current  through  a  broad,  very  fertile  valley.  This  valley 
is  part  of  an  old  sea-basin,  and  is  believed  to  contain  valuable  stores  of 
Goal.  Efforts  are  now  being  made  to  test  its  value.  On  the  north  side 
of  tjie  Dan,  Mayo  River  breaks  into  the  valley  over  its  rim  of  sand- 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  185 

stone  and  provides  valuable  water-power.  At  Leaksville  the  water- 
power  has  long  been  used  in  application  to  a  large  cotton  factory. 

The  Roanoke  and  Southern,  now  the  property  of  the  Norfolk  and 
Western  Railroad  Gompan}^,  connecting  Roanoke,  Ya.,  and  AVinston, 
N.  C,  passes  through  Rockingham  County.  The  Richmond  and  Dan- 
ville road,  passing  through  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  is  part  of 
the  main  stem  of  one  of  the  leading  lines  through  the  South. 

Wentworth  is  the  county  seat. 

Reidsville,  on  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad,  is  an  important 
tobacco  manufacturing  town  with  a  population  of  2,9G9.  It  contains 
several  sales  warehouses  and  numerous  factories  of  plug  tobacco,  and 
its  brands  are  well  and  widely  known.  Leaksville  has  a  population  of 
726,  and  Leaksville  Cotton  Mill  village  of  315.     Madison  has  450. 

Rockingham  County  has  339,357  acres  of  land,  valued  at  ^1,555,412, 
and  1,163  town  lots,  valued  at  $765,550. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,959  horses,  1,267  mules,  4  jacks  and 
jennies,  17  goats,  5,571  cattle,  7,143  hogs,  and  1,742  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  use,  $9,540.97;  pensions,  $1,291.90; 
schools,  $11,369.20;  county,  $10,784.80. 

Population — white,  15,197;  colored,  10,166;  total,  25,363. 

ROWAN. 

Rowan  County  lies  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Yadkin  River  and  south 
of  its  principal  tributary,  the  South  Yadkin,  and  resembles  very  closelj' 
in  its  agricultural  and  topographical  features  the  county  of  Davidson. 
Its  entire  surface  is  drained  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Yadkin,  which 
traverse  its  territory  in  a  north-easterly  course.  Its  middle  and  northern 
sections,  which  lie  for  the  most  part  above  the  level  of  800  feet,  rising 
at  one  point  above  1,000  feet,  are  characterized  by  an  abundance  of  red 
clay  soils  and  heavy  oak  forests,  interspersed  with  hickory,  walnut,  etc., 
only  the  higher  parts  of  the  water-sheds  between  the  streams  showing 
any  grow^th  of  pine  (short-leaf),  and  having  gray  and  yellow  sandy 
loam  soils.  The  south-eastern  corner  of  the  county,  amounting  to  one- 
third  of  its  territory,  is  quite  broken,  and  is  traversed  by  low  ranges  of 
mountains  or  high  hills,  which  rise  in  places  to  a  level  of  1,000  feet  and 
more  above  the  sea.  These  consist  geologically,  for  the  most  part,  of 
ledges  of  granite.  The  hills  of  this  region  have  a  light  gray  and  yellow 
sandy  loam  soil. 

The  culture  of  cotton,  while  greatly  increased  in  the  past  decade, 
still  occupies  a  secondary  place  in  the  agriculture  of  the  county,  most 
of  its  territory  being  better  adapted  to  the  growth  of  corn  and  small 
grains,  of  which  the  total  is  the  largest  in  the  State.  The  upper  por- 
tion produces  also  a  considerable  quantity  of  tobacco.  There  are  many 
gold  mines  in  this  county,  mostly  in  the  southern  part,  and  several 
copper  veins. 

This  is  perhaps  the  finest  grain-growing  count}'  in  the  State;  more 
oats  in  1880  and,  with  one  exception,  more  corn  and  wheat  having  been 
raised  here  than  in  any  other  county.     More  hay  beyond  any  com- 


186  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

parison  is  shipped  annually  from  this  point — 1,400,000  pounds  having 
been  shipped  in  1881.  From  8,000  to  10,000  bales  of  cotton  are  pro- 
du'ced  annually,  and  tobacco  in  certain  portions  of  the  county  is  raised 
with  great  profit  and  in  abundance.  There  are  twenty-five  fiouring- 
mills  in  the  county,  all  run  by  water. 

The  gold-mining  operations  in  Rowan  are  on  a  larger  and  more 
expensive  scale  than  elsewhere  in  the  State.  The  seat  of  the  chief 
mining  industry  is  the  "Gold  Hill"  and  its  associated  mines,  where 
the  veins  have  been  followed  to  the  depth  of  1,500  feet.  This  mine  and 
others  associated  with  it  will  be  spoken  of  in  a  separate  chapter. 

The  Dunn  Mountain  Granite  Quarry,  four  miles  south-east  of  Salis- 
bury, is  one  of  the  most  valuable  in  the  country,  the  stone  being  in 
exhaustless  mass,  of  fine  homogeneous  grain,  and  of  color  almost  white. 
It  was  used  in  the  construction  of  the  Government  building  at  Raleigh. 

The  North  Carolina  branch  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville  road  runs 
through  Rowan,  and  at  Salisbury  the  Western  North  Carolina  Rail- 
road, making  connection  with  Paint  Rock  and  Murphy,  and  with  all 
the  systems  of  the  great  West,  begins.  A  railroad  has  been  recently 
opened  south  from  Salisbury  to  Norwoofl,  in  Stanly  County. 

Salisbury,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  4,418.  It  is  admirably 
situated  for  trade  and  manufactures,  having  the  amplest  railroad 
facilities,  and  surrounded  by  a  remarkably  productive  country.  It  has 
two  large  tobacco  factories  and  two  large  cotton  mills  and  other  indus- 
trial establishments. 

The  county  contains  numerous  small  but  prosperous  villages. 

Rowan  County  contains  317,010  acres  of  land,  valued  at  ^1,843,681, 
and  990  town  lots,  valued  at  $793,540. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  3,325  horses,  1,517  mules,  16  jacks  and 
jennies,  80  goats,  7,181  cattle,  9,838  hogs,  3,674  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $11,233.19;  pensions,  $1,512.91; 
schools,  $14,877.15;  county,  $0,604  37. 

Po])ulation — white,  17,142;  colored,  6,981;  total,  24,123. 

RUTHERFORD. 

The  topographical  features  of  Rutherford  County  may  be  described 
in  the  same  terms  as  those  of  Cleveland,  which  bounds  it  on  the  east. 
Like  that,  it  is  traversed  from  its  northern  limit,  in  the  South  Moun- 
tains, by  the  parallel  southerly  courses  of  several  large  tributaries  of 
the  Broad  River.  Its  northern  half  is,  in  many  ])laces,  quite  rugged 
and  mountainous  (being  properly  a  part  of  the  Piedmont  Division), 
and  its  north-western  corner  rests  on  some  of  the  summits  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  at  an  elevation  of  nearly  4,000  feet.  Its  soils  and  its  agriculture 
correspond  in  all  their  features  to  those  of  Clevelantl  County,  and  its 
cotton  product  has  increased  seventcen-fold  since  1S70.  (iold  mining 
is  also  an  industry  of  some  importance,  esjiecially  in  the  northern  sec- 
tion, where  placers  are  abundant  and  extensive  on  the  flanks  of  the 
South  Mountains  and  in  the  beds  of  the  streams  at  their  ba.se. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  187 

From  the  southern  slope  of  the  South  Mountains,  and  from  the  east- 
ern slope  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  several  large  streams  have  their  exit,  and 
pass  through  this  county  to  unite  in  forming  the  main  stream  of  Broad 
Kiver,  which  passes  into  Soulh  Carolina.  The  principal  of  these  are 
Main  Broad,  which  is  on  the  western  side  of  the  county,  and  then  turn- 
ing to  the  east  and  passing  along  the  southern  side;  the  Second  Broad, 
which  runs  through  the  centre  of  the  county  from  north  to  south  ;  and 
the  First  Broad,  which  passes  through  the  north-east  corner;  and  all 
of  these  are  swelled  by  numerous  affluents.  All  of  these,  when  beyond 
the  influence  of  the  mountains,  are  margined  with  broad  belts  of  bot- 
tom lauds  of  great  fertility,  productive  as  grain  and  grass  farms,  and, 
to  a  considerable  extent,  as  cotton  farms — the  yield  of  the  county  being 
from  2,000  to  3,000  bales  annually;  and  Rutherford  County  is  practi- 
cally the  western  limit  of  cotton  culture  in  North  Carolina.  The  whole 
count}'^  is  favorable  to  fruit  —  apples,  peaches,  cherries,  melons  and 
grapes — and  also  to  potatoes. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  the  county  is  very  great.  Among  the  South 
Mountains  placer-mining  has  been  pursued  for  many  years.  These 
deposits  are  found  about  the  head-waters  of  First  and  Second  Broad 
Rivers  and  Muddy  and  Silver  Creeks,  and  have  been  worked  in  a  rude 
way  since  1830,  producing  several  millions  of  dollars — the  most  pro- 
ductive locality  yet  discovered  in  the  Atlantic  States. 

Rutherford  County  is  penetrated  by  the  Carolina  Central  Railroad, 
its  present  western  terminus  being  at  Rutherford  ton,  a  distance  of  286 
miles  from  Wilmington.  The  Charleston,  Cincinnati  and  Chicago  Rail- 
road enters  the  county  from  Cleveland,  passes  through  Rutherfordtou, 
and  has  its  present  terminus  at  Marion,  thus  giving  the  county  all 
needed  facilities  for  transportation. 

Rutherfordtou  is  the  county  seat,  and,  including  the  township,  has  a 
population  of  1,287.     Forest  City  has  a  population  of  419. 

Rutherford  Countv  has  320,141  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,255,294; 
and  296  town  lots,  valued  at  $121,238. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,199  horses,  1,658  mules,  13  jacks  and 
jennies,  67  goats,  7,350  cattle,  10,301  hogs,  and  4,273  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  — for  State  use,  $5,272.52;  pensions,  S816.07 ; 
schools,  .$6,569.05;  county ,_S17,445.09. 

Population— white,  15,073;  colored,  3,697;  total,  18,770. 

SAMPSON. 

Sampson  County  lies  in  the  middle  of  the  long-leaf  pine  belt,  and 
much  the  larger  part  of  its  territory  represents  the  average  character 
of  the  soils  and  forests  of  that  belt.  It  is  drained  by  South  River,  one 
of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Cape  Fear,  whose  streams  divide  its 
territory  into  north-  and  south-lying  belts  or  zones — flattish  swells,  the 
higher  portions  of  which  are  characterized  by  saurly  soils,  and  forests 
predominantly  of  long-leaf  pine.  In  places  near  the  southern  and 
western  margins,  and  again  near  the  northern  end,  there  are  tracts 
which  are  quite  sandy,  and  approach  the  character  of  pine  barrens. 


188  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

There  are  also  extensive  pine  fl  its,  especially  on  the  waters  of  Six  Runs, 
with  here  and  there  considerable  bodies  of  pine  and  oak  flats. 

The  corn  crop  of  the  county  is  much  more  important  than  that  of 
cotton,  and  the  crops  of  potatoes  and  rice  are  both  unusually  large. 
There  are  a'so  large  bodies  of  virgin-pine  t  mber,  still  valuable  both 
for  turpentine  and  for  lumber.  Marl  is  abundant,  and  is  used  with  tbe 
best  results  in  some  sections,  chiefly  the  northern.  Tlie  cotton  croy)  is 
a  considerable  one,  reaching  from  G,000  to  8,000  bales  annually.  Fine 
tobacco  has  been  cultivated  to  an  extent,  and  with  a  success  to  justify 
larger  enterprise.  Corn  and  peas  constitute  an  important  crop,  and 
sustain  the  ability  of  the  farmers  to  make  that  large  quantity  of  bacon 
for  which  the  county  has  long  been  noted.  The  lightness,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  enable  the  farmers  to  make  large 
quantities  of  sweet  potatoes,  and  the  large  bodies  of  flat  marsh  land 
are  favorable  to  the  culture  of  upland  rice.  Sampson  County  is  noted 
for  the  immense  quantities  of  the  whortleberry  (or  huckleberry)  which 
cover  the  country.  These  berries  are  remarkablv  fine,  and  have  become 
invested  with  such  value  as  a  subject  of  trade  as  to  have  become  the 
subject  of  legal  protection.  The  fruit,  fresh  and  dried,  is  in  great  demand 
in  the  markets  of  the  Northern  cities. 

Sampson  County  has  water  communication  with  Wilmington  by  way 
of  Black  River,  navigable  for  some  distance  into  the  county.  The  Wil- 
mington and  Weldon  Railroad  traverses  it,  and  a  branch  of  that  road 
extends  to  Clinton. 

Clinton,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  839. 

Samp.son  Count}''  has  484,195  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,179,429; 
and  1,093  town  lots,  valued  at  §115,144. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,701  horses,  1,351  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  4,187  goats,  10,984  cattle,  36,7fi3  hogs,  and  7,416  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $5,572.01;  pensions,  $918.70; 
schools,  $8,773.14;  countv,  $7,103.78. 

Population— white,  15,960;  colored,  9,136;  total,  25,096. 

STANLY. 

Stanly  County  lies  on  the  west  side  of  the  Yadkin  River,  and  is 
bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Rocky  River,  one  of  its  largest  tributaries. 
Its  soils  are  derived  from  the  clay  and  chlorite  slates  of  the  great  cen- 
tral slate  belt  of  the  State,  and  are  gray  and  gravelly  loams  or  red 
clays,  according  as  the  underlying  rock  is  of  the  former  or  of  the  latter 
description.  The  forests  are  of  oak  and  short-leaf  pine.  Its  surface  is 
quite  broken  near  the  rivers.  The  south-western  corner  of  the  county 
is  characterized  by  broad  and  comparatively  level  tracts  of  gravelly 
land,  covered  with  extensive  short  leaf  pine  forests,  with  a  subordinate 
growth  of  oaks. 

Tlie  products  of  the  county  are  cotton,  of  which  about  2,500  bales 
are  annually  raised,  and  of  a  superior  quality,  and  wheat,  raised  on  tlie 
same  slaty  lands  which  give  character  to  the  cotton.  The  wheat 
averages  in  the  crop  higher  than  any  produced  in  the  United  States, 


DESCRIPTION   OF   COUNTIES.  189 

reaching  from  sixty-five  to  seventy  pounds  per  bushel,  and  at  the  Vienna 
Exposition  taking  the  prize  for  weight  and  excellence  against  the  com- 
petition of  the  whole  world. 

These  slate  lands  are  a  depressed  continuation  of  the  Uwharrie 
Mountains,  and  are  rich  in  gold.  Operations  in  search  of  that  metal 
have  been  continued  for  many  years,  and  now  engage  considerable 
capital  in  the  business  of  vein  raining. 

The  Yadkin — becoming  the  Pee  Dee  after  junction  with  the  Uwhar- 
rie— marks  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  county,  and  the  Rocky  River 
passes  through  the  middle,  both  valuable  for  water-power,  so  far  unap- 
plied except  to  local  mills.  The  Narrows  of  the  Yadkin,  the  most 
remarkable  water-power  in  the  Atlantic  States,  are  in  this  county. 

A  railroad  has  recently  been  opened  from  Salisbury  to  Norwood,  a 
distance  of  forty  miles.     This  is  the  only  railroad  in  the  county. 

Albemarle,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  248,  Norwood  of  159, 
Bilesville  of  317,  Palmersville  of  317. 

Stanly  County  has  240,420  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $917,881,  and  244 
town  lots,  valued  at  §69,486. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,411  horses,  1,221  mules,  13  jacks 
and  jennies,  108  goats,  5,701  cattle,  8,320  hogs,  5,936  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $3,814.98;  pensions,  $589.07; 
schools,  $4,272.53;  county,  $4,527.15. 

Population — white,  10,629;  colored,  1,507;  total,  12,136. 

STOKES. 

Stokes  is  another  border  county,  and  belongs  also  to  the  bright 
tobacco  belt.  It  is  drained  by  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  Dan,  and 
belongs  to  the  Piedmont  Division  of  the  State.  Its  surface  is  for  the 
most  part  quite  rugged  and  broken,  containing  the  terminal  spurs  and 
ridges  of  the  Brushy  Mountains,  which  here  attain  an  elevation  of 
more  than  2,500  feet  above  the  sea.  The  general  elevation  is  above 
1,000  feet.  The  forests  of  this  county  and  of  the  Piedmont  Region 
generally  contain  an  added  element,  the  chestnut,  on  elevated  ridges 
and  mountain  slopes,  and  the  proportion  increases  with  the  elevation. 
A  new  species  of  oak  also  makes  its  appearance,  the  chestnut  oak, 
which  occupies  the  crests  and  upper  slopes  of  the  poorer  stony  and 
gravelly  ridges  of  the  whole  mountain  region.  The  proportion  of  sour- 
wood  also  increases  to  such  an  extent  in  the  Piedmont  Region  as  to 
become  a  marked  characteristic  of  its  forests,  and  is  indicative  of  a  scant 
soil.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  with  the  extinction  of  the  herbage 
which  originally  mantled  the  soil  and  kept  it  moist,  the  chestnut  has 
almost  disappeared  in  half  a  century  from  the  upper  midland  counties, 
and  is  dying  out  slowly  in  the  Piedmont  Region. 

The  soils  of  this  county  resemble  those  of  Rockingham,  being  pre- 
dominantly yellow  and  gray  gravelly  loams,  with  occasional  red  clay 
belts,  the  former  well  adapted  to  the  production  of  the  higher  grades  of 
tobacco,  which  constitutes  the  chief  element  of  its  agriculture,  and  in 
the  total  product  of  which  this  county  stands  very  high.     Its  manufac- 


190  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

turing  facilities  are  great  but  undeveloped,  and  it  is  rich  in  iron  ores. 
Its  agriculture  has  the  advantage  of  the  presence  of  several  limestone 
beds,  and  there  are  also  outcrops  of  semi-bituminous  coal  in  the  south- 
eastern section. 

The  Sauraton  Mountains,  a  short  but  bold  and  picturesque  range, 
uplift  themselves  about  the  centre  of  the  county  to  an  elevation  of  about 
1,800  feet  above  the  mean  level  of  the  adjacent  country,  and  as  a  con- 
tinuation of  that  chain  the  solitary  Pilot,  with  its  high  castellated  crest, 
stands  out  alone  upon  the  landscape,  the  wonder  and  also  the  guide  of 
the  aborigines,  and  the  admiration  of  their  civilized  successors.  Around 
the  bases  of  these  mountains  the  country  is  rough  and  broken,  abound- 
ing in  minerals  and  also  in  mineral  springs  of  marked  value.  This 
broken  formation  lies  in  the  north-western  part  of  the  county. 

Along  the  Dan  and  its  tributaries  the  land  partakes  much  of  valley 
formation,  much  of  it  being  included  in  what  is  known  as  the  Dan 
River  coal  basin,  a  pre-historic  sea-basin,  whose  surface  is  exceedingly 
fertile,  and  from  whose  bowels  it  is  hoped  great  treasure  of  coal  is  to  be 
drawn.  Besides  coal,  which  is  proven  to  exist,  and  lime,  which  is 
known  to  abound,  vast  beds  of  iron  are  found,  and  their  value  demon- 
strated and  in  process  of  development. 

Few  counties  in  the  State  have  greater  agricultural  resources.  The 
rich  valleys  bear  enormous  crops  of  corn,  and  wheat  and  other  grain 
crops  flourish  everywhere.  The  great  crop  of  the  county  is  tobacco, 
for  which  Stokes  has  long  been  noted — the  dark  rich  leaf  that  charac- 
terizes the  adjacent  counties  in  Virginia,  the  product  of  dark,  rich  soils, 
and  the  bright  yellow,  the  gift  of  the  lighter  soils,  being  equally  respon- 
sive to  culture.  The  crop  of  1889,  by  the  census  record  of  1890,  was 
3,119,389  pounds,  most  of  which  finds  a  market  in  Winston,  though 
much  of  it  is  manufactured  in  the  county. 

There  are  now  good  railroad  facilities  in  the  county,  the  Koanoke 
and  Southern  running  through  the  north-west  corner  of  the  county, 
and  the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley  road  through  the  south-west 
coiner  and  western  edge. 

Danbury  is  the  county  seat,  and,  like  the  other  villages  of  the  county, 
has  a  small  population. 

Stokes  County  has  270,486  acres  of  land,  valued  at  ^1,002,515,  and 
251  town  lots,  valued  at  §63,910. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,215  horses,  1,524  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  2  goats,  5,590  cattle,  8,876  hogs,  2.109  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $4,449.07;  pensions,  $703.94; 
schools.  >?6,442.40;  countv,  §5,528.71. 

Population— white,  14^386;  colored,  2,813;  total,  17,199. 

SURRY. 

Surry  is  a  north  border  county,  contiguous  to  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
belongs  to  the  Piedmont  Section  of  the  State.  The  Yadkin  River  is 
its  southern  boundary.  Its  western  section  is  quite  mountainous,  and 
there  are  small  mountains  in  the  middle,  so  that  its  surface  is  quite 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  191 

broken,  and  its  average  elevation  is  nearly  1,400  feet.  Its  soils  and 
forests  are  like  those  of  the  neighboring  counties — Stokes  and  Forsyth; 
the  bigh  slaty  ridges  and  mountains,  as  well  as  much  of  the  rolling 
surface,  having  a  light  gray  sandy  loam  soil  and  forests  of  oak  and 
pine,  with  sourwood  and  chestnut,  while  the  better  tracts  of  reddish 
clay  loams  have  a  predominant  growth  of  oaks,  hickory,  poplar,  etc., 
wiih  little  or  no  pine. 

The  agriculture  of  the  county  is  like  that  of  Stokes,  tobacco  of  the 
better  grades  being  the  chief  market  crop,  but  of  greatly  less  value 
than  the  grain  product.  The  water-power  of  the  county  is  notable,  a 
number  of  large  tributaries  of  the  Yadkin  crossing  its  territory  with  a 
fall  of  several  hundred  feet.  This  is  a  feature  common  to  the  whole 
piedmont  region.  There  are  several  cotton  factories  and  iron  mines 
and  forges  in  the  county. 

At  the  southern  extremity  of  the  county  the  Blue  Ridge  takes  a 
northern  trend,  throwing  the  mass  of  the  county  towards  the  east — a 
broken  but  not  a  mountainous  country,  with  much  of  rich  arable  land, 
and  intersected  with  numerous  fertile  vallej^s.  The  Blue  Ridge,  in  this 
part  of  its  course,  is  remarkably  prolific  in  bold  streams,  which  rapidly 
contribute  to  the  formation  of  the  large  river  Yadkin,  whicii  catches  all 
these  affluents  on  the  south  border  of  the  county.  Among  these  streams 
are  the  Ararat,  Fisher's,  Mitchell's  and  Elkin,  all  within  the  territory 
of  Surry,  all  with  productive  valleys,  and  all  with  remarkably  fine 
water-power. 

The  mineral  interests  of  the  county,  confined  chiefly  to  iron,  have 
had  no  substantial  development  as  yet,  from  deficiency  of  transportation. 
The  construction  of  the  Winston  and  Wilkesboro  road  up  the  Valley 
of  the  Yadkin,  alone  the  southern  boundary,  and  the  construction  of 
the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley  road  as  far  as  Mount  Airy,  assure 
material  changes  at  no  distant  day. 

Tobacco  is  the  most  important  crop,  the  returns  for  the  year  1889 
showing  a  crop  of  1,429,025  pounds.  The  other  principal  crops  are 
corn  (a  crop  nearly  monopolizing  the  broad  Valley  of  the  Yadkin  from 
its  sources  to  the  borders  of  Stanly),  wheat,  oats,  rye,  grass;  and  the 
fruits  of  the  country  thrive  to  great  perfection. 

The  most  noted  manufacturing  industry  of  the  county  is  the  woolen- 
mill  at  Elkin,  in  which  blankets  of  extraordinary  beauty  and  excellence 
are  made;  and  cotton-mills  and  tobacco  factories  at  Mount  Airy. 

The  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  A^alley  road  extends  from  Mount  Airy  to 
Wilmington,  and  makes  universal  connections.  The  Winston  and 
Wilkesboro  road,  an  extension  of  the  North-western  North  Carolina 
road,  skirts  the  southern  border  of  the  county. 

Dobson  is  the  county  seat,  with  small  population.  Mount  Airy  has 
a  population  of  1,768.  Here  are  cotton-mills,  tobacc  >  factories,  sales 
warehouses,  and  in  the  vicinity  exhaustless  quarries  of  fine  granite,  now 
extensively  worked.     Elkin  has  a  population  of  288. 

Surry  County  has  281,931  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,002,515 ;  and 
251  town  lots,  valued  at  $63,916. 


192  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,215  horses,  1,521  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  5,590  cattle,  8,876  hogs,  and  2,109  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $4,449.07;  pensions,  $709.94; 
schools,  ^0,442.40:  countv,  $5,52S.71. 

Population— white,  10,920;  colored,  2,355;  total,  19,281. 

SWAIN. 

Swain  County  lies  north  of  Macon  and  Jackson,  along  the  waters  of 
the  Tennessee  River,  and  on  the  flanks  of  the  great  Smoky  Mountains 
on  the  north,  which  here  rtach  their  culmination  in  elevations  of 
nearly  6,700  feet.  With  the  exception  of  some  open  valley  tracts  near 
its  centre,  along  the  before-mentioned  river  and  its  tributaries,  the  ter- 
ritory of  this  county  is  exceedingly  rugged  and  broken.  The  proportion 
of  cultivable  land  is  very  small.  It  is  heavily  timbered,  even  to  the 
highest  summits  of  the  Smoky  Mountains,  with  the  prevalent  mountain 
forest  growths.  The  higher  levels  of  the  Smoky  Mountains,  above  5,000 
feet  above  sea-level,  are  covered  with  forests  of  firs,  while  the  more 
elevated  coves  abound  in  white  pine  and  hemlock,  and  its  deep  gorges 
and  lower  slopes  with  maple,  poplar,  linden,  hickory,  chestnut,  buckeye, 
walnut,  magnolias  and  cherry.  The  summits  of  the  high  mountains 
furnish  fine  natural  pasturage,  and  grazing  has  always  been  the  chief 
industry. 

Clingman's  Peak,  in  the  Smoky  range,  is  6,660  feet  high,  the  loftiest 
of  the  whole  range,  and  is  in  a  group  of  mountains  between  Pigeon 
and  Tennessee  Rivers,  where  this  long  chain  attains  its  maximum 
elevation.  The  south  faces  of  these  mountains  are  very  fertile,  and 
covered  with  trees  of  enormous  magnitude.  Their  varieties  are  named 
above.  The  soil  of  these  mountains  is  .so  deep  and  fertile  that  with  the 
exception  of  an  occasional  "bald"  or  gra-ss-covered  summit  the  growth 
of  heavy  timber  extends  to  the  top,  the  balsam  fir  here  attaining  its 
greatest  height  and  diameter,  not  equalled  elsewhere  in  the  North 
Carolina  mountains. 

The  soil,  similar  to  that  of  Madison  County,  has  proved  very  suitable 
to  the  culture  of  fine  tobacco,  and  the  lands  are  being  applied  to  that 
use.  The  advance  in  culture  is  shown  by  the  progress  from  1879,  when 
the  crop  was  stated  at  1,160,  and  in  1889  at  47,543.  Owing  to  the 
rugged  nature  of  the  county,  and  the  usually  trough-like  character  of 
the  valleys,  relatively  a  small  proportion  of  the  land  is  in  cultivation. 
Corn,  wheat,  rye  and  oats  are  the  chief  crops. 

The  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad  finds  its  way  through  the 
county  down  the  banks  of  the  Tuckaseege  and  then  up  that  of  the 
Tennessee. 

At  the  junction  of  these  streams  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  com- 
plete saw-mill  works  in  North  Carolina. 

These  rivers,  and  the  Ocona  Luftee,  are  the  chief  streams  in  the 
county.  Tliere  are  other  large  mountain  streams,  such  as  Forney's, 
Hazel  and  Deep  Creek,  famous  for  trout,  and  also  the  wild  game  along 
their  borders. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  193 

Along  the  Ocoiia  Liiftee,  the  Soco,  and  a  portion  of  the  Tuckaseege 
Riv'ers,  lies  the  greater  part  of  the  reservation  for  the  Cherokee  Indians. 
They  number,  according  to  the  census  returns  for  1890,  711  souls. 
They  have  adopted  the  habits  of  the  whites,  are  christianized,  go  to 
school,  pay  taxes,  and  vote.  At  Yellow  Hill,  on  the  Ocona  Luftee,  the 
Government  has  provided  them  a  farm  connected  with  a  school,  where 
they  are  well  instructed  in  elementary  branches  and  in  mechanical, 
agricultural  and  domestic  pursuits. 

Bryson  City  is  the  county  seat.  It  is  the  seat  of  several  steam  saw- 
mills and  wood-working  establishments.  Whittier  is  a  small  village, 
similarly  occupied. 

Swain  County  has  426,152  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $153,976,  and  1-11 
town  lots,  vakied  at  $37,823. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  420  horses,  180  mules,  3  jacks  and 
jennies,  4,877  cattle,  8,109  hogs,  and  2,185  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $1,780.94;  pensions,  $276.39; 
schools,  $2,995.30;  county,  $3,953.95. 

Population — white,  5,652;  colored  (including  711  Indians),  925;  total, 
6,577. 

TRANSYLVANIA. 

Trans3dvania  is  a  true  mountain  county,  having  on  its  whole  south- 
ern border  the  Blue  Ridge  in  its  most  massive  and  imposing  form ;  and 
also  being  the  starting  point  for  the  Pisgah  and  Balsam  ranges,  which 
stretch  through  the  county  towards  the  north.  The  only  exception  to 
the  rugged  nature  of  the  surface  is  presented  by  the  valleys  along 
Davidson  s  River,  and  along  the  French  Broad  and  its  tributaries,  all 
of  which  flow  through  broad  and  fertile  valleys,  and  all  of  these  in 
cultivation  and  in  a  high  state  of  improvement.  These  valleys  are  the 
foundation  of  the  stock-raising  which  at  present  is  the  great  source  of 
revenue  to  the  county ;  and  great  efforts  by  intelligent  men  are  made 
to  improve  breeds,  and  still  further  develop  this  important  industry. 
Much  the  larger  portion  of  the  county  is  in  forest,  covered  with  the 
usual  timbers  of  the  mountain,  all  of  which  attain  enormous  size  from 
the  great  fertility  of  the  soil. 

The  land  reduced  to  tillage  produces  grasses,  the  cereals,  tobacco  and 
all  the  fruits  of  the  temperate  zone  in  great  excellence. 

There  has  been  no  development  of  mineral  treasure,  but  there  is 
enough  known  to  predicate  in  the  future  a  large  exposure  of  mines  of 
gold,  silver,  lead,  nickel,  copper,  asbestos,  corundum  and  mica,  all  of 
which  are  known  to  exist  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Balsam  and  Pisgah 
solitudes. 

The  south  end  of  the  county  is  an  elevated  plateau  of  considerable 
breadth  and  of  unique  characteristics.  A  portion  of  it  is  a  broad  val- 
ley of  such  dimensions  as  to  give  birth  and  dignity  to  a  river  of  con- 
siderable size,  which  drags  a  sluggish  length  through  a  wide  area  of 
cultivation  for  fifteen  miles  or  more,  and  then  tumbles  into  the  valley 
of  the  French  Broad,  1,000  or  1,200  feet  below,  over  the  steep  escarp- 
ment which  guards  the  plateau  on  all  sides,  in  a  series  of  water-falls, 
13 


194  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

the  highest  and  fullest  among  the  mountains.  Ciesar's  Head,  a  prom- 
ontory of  1,800  feet  in  height,  at  a  point  where  the  Blue  Ridge  makes 
a  short  projection  into  South  Carolina,  is  on  the  southern  side  of  this 
escarpment. 

There  is  no  railroad  entering  this  county,  which  is  a  great  hindrance 
to  its  development.  A  part  of  the  Kuoxville,  Western  and  Carolina 
road  is  graded  across  the  plateau  above  mentioned,  but  work  on  it  is 
at  present  suspended.  Companies  are  organized  for  otlier  lines,  but 
nothing  has  been  done. 

The  French  Broad  Riv^er,  which,  in  its  upper  course,  is  a  placid 
stream  with  little  perceptible  fall,  has  been  made  navigable  from  Bre- 
vard to  within  twelve  miles  of  Asheville  Iw  the  work  of  the  General 
Government.  But  though  a  steamboat  was  placed  on  the  river,  no  useful 
results  have  followed  except  in  the  improved  facilities  for  lloating  logs 
and  timber  to  the  mills  below. 

Brevard  is  the  county  seat. 

Transylvania  has  190,020  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $473,141,  and  86 
town  lots,  valued  at  $12,225. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  656  horses,  352  mules,  6  jacks  and 
jennies,  57  goats,  5,070  cattle,  5,256  hogs,  and  5,491  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $1,815.43:  pensions,  $277.06; 
.schools,  $2,975.54.     (No  county  taxes  reported  for  1890). 

Population — white,  5,368:  colored,  513:  total,  5,881. 

TYRRELL. 

The  description  of  Tyrrell  County  may  be  given  by  simply  repeating 
that  of  Washington,  except  that  the  great  intersound  swamp  extends 
over  a  larger  part  of  the  county.  Its  northern  third,  lying  on  Albe- 
marle Sound,  resembles  in  all  its  features  the  corresponding  portion  of 
Washington.  No  part  of  it  rises  twenty  feet  above  sea-level.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  east  by  the  great  projection  from  xVlbemarle  Sound 
known  as  Alligator  River,  which  has  a  depth  nearly  equal  to  that  of 
the  sound  and  a  breadth  of  from  three  to  five  miles.  A  portion  of  the 
rich  border  land  of  Lake  Phelps  lies  within  this  county.  In  the  south- 
eastern corner,  along  Alligator  River  and  its  tributaries,  and  on  the 
western  side,  these  lands  are  semi-swamps  and  oak  Hats,  and  have  a 
gray  silt  and  clay  loam  soil. 

VVhat  is  said  of  the  resemblances  between  these  two  counties  will  be 
more  fully  said  in  the  account  of  Washington.  Tyrrell  produces  about 
1,500  bales  of  cotton  annually,  a  good  crop  of  corn,  j)otatoes.  peas,  and 
about  half  a  million  pounds  of  rice,  to  which  the  drained  swamp  land 
is  well  adapted.  Its  chief  indu.stry  is  in  the  products  of  the  forest, 
abounding  in  juniper,  cypress  and  gum.  On  its  shores  ore  valuable 
fisheries.  It  is  washed  on  its  north  side  by  Albemarle  Sound  and  on 
the  east  by  Alligator  River,  an  arm  of  the  sound  nearly  as  wide  as  the 
parent  body. 

Columbia  is  the  county  seat. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  195 

Tyrrell  County  has  149,414  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $332,738,  and  46 
town  lots,  valued  at  $25,525. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  364  horses,  312  mules,  3,701  cattle, 
6,169  hogs,  and  1,665  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $1,486.67;  pensions,  $224.57; 
schools,  $1,752.75;  county,  $3,195.67. 

Population— white,  3,000;  colored,  1,225;  total,  4,225. 

UNION. 

Union  County  borders  on  South  Carolina,  and  lies  between  Anson 
and  Mecklenburg,  from  parts  of  both  of  which  it  was  formed.  The 
southern  portion  of  the  county  is  penetrated  to  a  distance  of  several 
miles  by  belts  of  long-leaf  pine  (sandy  lands)  on  the  level-backed 
divides  between  the  streams.  This  portion  of  the  county  is  drained 
southward  into  the  Pee  Dee  through  South  Carolina. 

The  soils  of  a  larger  part  of  the  county  are  of  a  slaty  origin,  and  are 
gray  gravelly  and  sandy  for  the  most  part,  with  occasional  areas  of  red 
clays.  The  forests  are  mixed  pine  and  oak,  hickory,  etc.  The  soils  of 
a  narrow  belt  along  the  west  side  are  granitic.  The  cotton  product 
belongs  mainly  to  the  southern  half,  the  northern  portion  being  devoted 
to  small  grains,  of  which  it  produces  large  crops.  The  chief  crop  is 
cotton,  of  which  about  10,000  bales  are  annually  produced.  Corn  and 
the  small  grains  constitute  the  remainder  of  the  agricultural  products. 
Frequent  creeks,  with  rich  alluvial  bottoms,  traverse  the  county  and 
provide  a  large  extent  of  fertile  arable  land. 

The  Carolina  Central  Railroad  passes  through  Union  County,  open- 
ing up  the  markets  of  Wilmington  and  Charlotte;  and  the  Georgia, 
Carolina  and  Northern  road  has  recently  been  finished  from  Monroe  to 
Atlanta,  Ga  ,  and,  in  connection  with  the  Seaboard  system,  has  added 
another  great  through  line  of  freight  and  travel. 

Monroe  is  the  county  seat,  and  is  credited  by  the  census  of  1890  with 
a  population  of  1,866.  It  is  a  town  of  great  business  activity,  with 
cotton  factories,  banks  and  public  institutions,  and  will  no  doubt  feel 
the  impulse  of  its  added  railroad  facilities. 

Union  County  has  385,446  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,359,119;  and 
513  town  lots,  valued  at  $258,441. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,661  horses,  2,213  mules,  4  jacks  and 
jennies,  93  goats,  7,983  cattle,  11,099  hogs,  and  6,910  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $7,191.12;  pensions,  $1,058.83; 
schools,  $11,848.12;  county,  $9,331.29. 

Population— white,  15,712;  colored,  5,547;  total,  21,259. 

VANCE. 

Vance  is  a  new  county,  formed  out  of  Granville,  Franklin  and  War- 
ren, and  combines  the  best  qualities  of  those  three  important  counties. 
It  is  well  situated  as  to  railroad  communication,  and  also  as  to  water- 
power,  character  of  soil  and  diversity  of  crops.     The  county  is  traversed 


196  HAND-BOUK    Of    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

by  numerous  streams,  with  fertile  lowlands,  and  the  uplands  are  ecjually 
adapted  to  cotton,  tobacco  and  the  cereals.  The  cotton  crop  yields 
annually  about  3,000  bales,  and  the  tobacco  crop  for  1889  is  stated  by 
the  Census  Report  of  1890  to  have  been  1,979,070  pounds.  P'or  diversity 
of  crops  Vance  County  yields  the  palm  to  none.  The  principal  market 
crops  are  tobacco  and  cotton,  which  are  marketed  within  the  county  at 
fair  and  remunerative  prices.  The  cotton  is  of  an  unusually  fine  sta- 
ple, and  the  tobacco  is  mostly  the  fine  yellow.  In  addition  to  tobacco 
and  cotton,  wheat,  corn  and  oats  are  raised  in  abundance,  while  the 
usual  yield  of  rye,  potatoes,  millet,  peas,  beans,  peanuts  and  melons  is 
large  and  somewhat  above  the  general  average  of  the  State.  Apples, 
peaches,  pears,  plums,  cherries,  strawberries  and  grapes  have  done  well 
and  are  raised  in  large  quantities  in  many  parts  of  the  cpunty".  Along 
the  railroad  these  fruits  are  raised  for  shipment  to  Northern  markets, 
and,  when  properly  cared  for,  yield  large  profits.  There  are  several 
large  vineyards,  where  the  different  varieties  of  wine  of  superior  quality 
are  manufactured  in  quantities,  and  profitably. 

The  county  is  traversed  by  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  Railroad,  with  a 
branch  road  to  Oxford. 

Henderson,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  4,191,  has  several 
tobacco  factories,  sales  warehouses,  in  which  are  annuallv  sold  between 
6,000,000  and  8,000,000  pounds  of  leaf  tobacco,  and  is  the  market  for 
from  (),000  to  8  000  bales  of  cotton.  The  growth  of  Henderson  has 
stimulated  the  industrial  activity  of  the  surrounding  country  to  very 
marked  extent.  The  town  proved  to  have  been  most  advantageously 
situated.  The  tobacco  and  cotton  crops  here  overlap  each  other.  Until 
within  the  past  few  years  ver}'  little  or  no  tobacco  was  raised  east  of 
Henderson,  and  very  little  or  no  cotton  west.  Now  the  bright  yellow 
tobacco,  for  which  this  section  is  so  famous,  is  raised  in  large  quantities 
east  as  well  as  west  of  Henderson;  and  cotton  is  planted  successfully 
west  as  well  as  east  of  this  town. 

Kittrell  has  a  population  of  317.  Middleburg  and  Williamsboro 
have  smaller  populations. 

Vance  County  has  164,007  acres  of  land,  valued  at  .^1,140,054;  and 
741  town  lots,  valued  at  $612,311. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,484  horses,  495  mules,  59  goats,  3,312 
cattle,  6,148  hogs,  and  949  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  $7,519.17;  pensions,  S978  68; 
schools,  $6,509.25;  county,  $7,571.08. 

Population — white,  6,434;  colored,  11,147;  total,  17,581. 

WAKE. 

Wake  County,  in  which  the  Capitol  of  the  State  is  situated,  is  one  of 
the  largest  counties  in  the  State,  and  shows  the  largest  product  of  cotton. 
It  is  drained  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Neuse,  and  lies  on  the  eastern 
margin  of  the  oak  uplands,  its  southern  and  eastern  sections  partaking 
of  the  agricultural  features  of  the  oak  and  pine  gravelly  hills,  the  for- 
ests being  made  up  of  long-leaf  and  .short-leaf  pines,  oaks,  hickories, 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  197 

dogwoods,  etc.  The  northern  portion  of  the  county,  as  well  as  the  west- 
ern, is  quite  hilly  and  broken  in  surface,  especially  along  the  streams, 
and  the  soils  are  predominantly  gray  and  yellow  sandy  and  gravelly 
loams,  with  occasional  areas  of  red  clay. 

Wake  Count}'^  was  established  in  the  year  1770,  and  was  named  in 
honor  of  the  Wake  family,  into  which  the  then  Governor  of  North 
Carolina  (Tryon)  had  married.  It  was  formed  from  portions  of  Orange, 
Johnston  and  Cumberland  Counties,  and  lies  midwa}'  between  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains  on  the  west  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east. 

Poliiically  the  centre  of  the  State,  by  singular  coincidence  it  appears 
to  be  the  agricultural  centre— a  common  ground  on  which  the  crops  of 
opposite  sections  find  congenial  soil.  Thus,  it  is  the  largest  cotton-grow- 
ing county  in  the  State,  the  crop  reaching  as  much  as  30,000  bales 
annually.  The  tobacco  crop  yields  from  500,000  to  800,000  pounds 
annually,  its  corn  crop  is  the  largest  in  the  State,  its  wheat  crop  is  a 
large  one,  its  oat  crop  is  a  good  one,  and  it  has  proven  high  capacity 
for  grasses  and  clover,  and  excellent  adaptation  to  dairy-farming.  It  is 
w^ell  suited  for  fruits  of  all  kinds,  and  is  of  surpassing  virtue  in  the  per- 
fection of  the  grape. 

The  county  is  rich  in  minerals.  For  many  j^ears  an  extensive  vein 
of  plumbago  has  been  known  to  lie  in  the  vicinity  of  Raleigh,  which, 
at  one  time,  was  extensively  worked.  Serpentine,  asbestos  and  steatite 
abound  in  some  locdities,  and  excellent  granite  is  found  near  Kaleigh 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  Rolesville.  Out  of  the  granite  obtained  on  the 
eastern  margin  of  Raleigh  the  State  Capitol  was  built. 

The  county  is  intersected  by  railroads,  all  centering  upon  Raleigh — 
namely,  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston,  with  its  extension  south-west,  the 
Raleigh  and  Augusta  Air-Line;  and  the  North  Carolina  road,  with  its 
east  and  west  connections,  which  so  cross  each  other  at  right  angles  as 
to  divide  the  county  into  four  equal  sections,  thus  giving  all  equal 
advantages. 

Neuse  River  passes  through  the  center  of  the  county  from  north-west 
to  south-east,  fertilizing  along  its  course  a  large  body  of  productive  land 
and  providing  great  water-power,  utilized  for  paper-,  saw-  and  flouiing- 
mills. 

Raleigh  is  the  capital,  with  a  population  of  12,678  by  the  census  of 
1890.  Here  are  the  State  Capitol,  the  Supreme  Court  buildings  and 
Library,  the  Agricultural  Department,  the  State  Llospital  for  the  Insane, 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb  and  Blind  Asylum  for  the  whites,  and  a  similar 
institution  for  the  colored  race,  the  State  Penitentiary,  the  State  Agri- 
cultural and  Mechanical  College,  the  State  Fair  buildings,  St.  Mary's 
School  (female).  Peace  Institute  (female),  Shaw  LTniversity  (colored), 
graded  schools  for  both  races,  hotels,  the  Governor's  Mansion,  the  United 
States  Court  building  and  Post-office,  churches  for  all  denominations, 
etc.  There  is  a  liberal  system  of  electric  street  railroad,  electric  and 
gas-lighting,  water-works,  sewerage,  telephone  exchange  and  other  con- 
veniences, a  cotton  exchange  and  co'ton  compress,  and  numerous  manu- 
factories and  industrial  works,  among  them  two  cotton  factories  and  a 
fertilizer  factory. 


198  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Gary,  a  village  lying  both  on  the  North  Carolina  and  the  Raleigh 
and  Augusta  Air-Line  roads,  has  a  population  of  423;  Apex,  a  popula- 
tion of  269;  Rolesville,  of  150;  Holly  Springs,  of  218;  Morrisville,  of 
150.     Wake  Forest  College  town  has  a  population  of  853. 

Wake  County  contains  505,625  acres  of  land,  valued  at  ^3,392,072 
and  town  lots  valued  at  $3,109,257. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  2,640  horses,  2,947  mules,  13  jacks  and 
jennies,  440  goats,  8,827  cattle,  17,783  hogs,  3,029  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $25,858.87;  pensions,  $3,121.98; 
schools,  $23,147.22;  county,  $23,225  95. 

Population— white,  26,093;  colored,  23,114;  total,  49,207. 

WARREN. 

Warren  County  lies  on  the  northern  border  of  the  State,  and  is 
bounded  in  part  by  the  Roanoke  River,  the  tributaries  of  which  drain 
about  one-half  of  its  territory,  the  southern  half  being  drained  by  the 
Tar  River.  Through  the  middle  of  the  county,  along  the  divide 
between  these  rivers,  lies  a  wide,  level,  and  undulating  tract,  with  forests 
of  oak  and  short-leaf  pine,  hickory,  dogwood,  etc.,  having  generally  a 
soil  of  the  class  of  gray  and  yellowish  gravelly  and  sandy  loam,  and 
frequently  belts  of  red  clay  loam.  Northward  and  southward  the  land 
becomes  more  hilly,  and  near  the  streams  the  soil  is  more  clayey  and 
often  reddish  in  color.  Many  of  these  streams  are  bordered  by  narrow 
strips  of  level  bottom  land.  The  tributaries  of  the  Tar  on  the  southern 
side  are  separated  by  wide  tracts  of  nearly  level  oak  uplands,  and  are 
bordered  by  extensive  bottoms.  This  portion  of  the  county  is  also  less 
broken  than  the  northern.  The  agriculture  of  the  county  is  divided 
between  the  production  of  cotton,  tobacco,  and  the  cereals;  but  the  vine 
and  the  peach  flourish,  especially  in  the  northern  and  western  sections 
lying  within  the  hill  country.  The  western  border  of  the  county  rises 
to  an  elevation  of  500  feet,  so  that  there  is  abundant  water-power 
developed  by  the  fall  of  its  numerous  streams,  many  of  which  leave  its 
territory  at  an  elevation  of  less  than  200  feet.  Gold  mining  has  been 
a  profitable  industry  in  the  southern  corner  of  the  county  and  the 
neighboring  parts  of  Halifax,  Nash  and  Franklin. 

Cotton  is  a  crop  of  much  importance,  the  annual  yield  being  between 
7,000  and  9,000  bales.  Tobacco  has  always  been  a  heavy  crop,  the 
quiility  being  mostly  of  the  dark  heavy  grades,  though,  in  recent  years, 
there  has  been  a  large  proportion  of  bright  yellow\  The  crop  of  1889 
is  stated  at  847,150  pounds.  Wheat  grows  with  healthful  luxuriance, 
and  the  yield  is  very  great,  and  all  the  other  cereals  produce  abun- 
dantly. 

The  county  is  traversed  by  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  Railroad,  from 
which  there  is  a  branch  road  to  Warrenton. 

Warrenton  is  the  county  seat  and  has  a  pojjulation  of  74(i;  Littleton 
of  554. 

Warren  Countv  has  265,664  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,228,445,  and 
256  town  lots,  valued  at  $196,290. 


DESCRIPTION    OP    COUNTIES.  199 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,545  horses,  447  mules,  1  jack,  84 
goats,  0,650  cattle,  7,968  hogs,  and  1,478  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $5,690.15:  pensions,  $824.85; 
schools,  16,978.50;  county,  $6,152.37. 

Population— white,  5,880;  colored,  13,480;  total,  19,360. 

WASHINGTON. 

Washington  County  lies  on  the  southern  shore  of  Albemarle  Sound 
and  Roanoke  River,  and  extends  southward  into  the  great  intersound, 
or  Alligator  Swamp.  Only  about  one-half  its  territor}',  next  to  Albe- 
marle Sound,  has  been  brought  into  cultivation  to  any  extent,  the 
southern  half  remaining  in  its  original  condition.  The  cultivatable 
portion  consists  mainly  of  oak  flats,  having  a  close  gray  clay  loam  soil 
and  a  growth  of  oak,  hickory,  beech,  maple,  and  short-leaf  pine,  with 
flatfish  ridges  here  and  there  which  have  an  intermixture  of  long  and 
short-leaf  pine  and  sandy  loam  soils.  The  former  are  generally  quite 
fertile.  The  southern  portion  of  the  county  is  swampy,  and  is  charac- 
terized by  the  presence  of  two  considerable  lakes,  Phelps  and  Pungo, 
which  occupy  the  highest  portions  of  the  swamp,  and  from  which  many 
of  the  streams  of  the  county  take  their  rise.  Around  the  margins  of 
these  lakes  are  narrow  belts  or  ridges  of  swampy,  mucky  land,  which 
were  originally  covered  by  heavy  forests  of  gum,  ash,  maple,  cypress, 
poplar,  etc.  The  soils  are  of  great  depth  and  indefinite  fertility.  Much 
of  the  swamp  land  of  this  portion  of  the  county  is  peaty  and  worthless, 
except  for  timber.  The  south-western  section  consists  partly  of  semi- 
swamps,  with  gray,  fertile  loams,  and  partly,  in  the  "  Longacre"  coun- 
try, of  pocosons,  with  a  small  growth  of  pine  and  scrub  oaks,  very  flat, 
with  an  ashen  soil  of  close  texture,  silicious,  but  as  impervious  as  clay. 

More  cotton  is  produced  than  would  be  predicated  on  the  prevalence 
of  sw^amps.  But  the  land  is  very  rich,  and  the  crop  reaches  from  3,000 
to  3,500  bales  annually.  Large  crops  of  corn  are  raised,  and  also  of 
sweet  potatoes.  A  considerable  quantity  of  rice  is  raised.  Along  the 
shore  of  Albemarle  Sound  there  are  productive  fisheries  of  shad  and 
herring.  The  chief  industry  of  the  southern  half  of  the  county  is  in 
the  products  of  the  forest.  There  is  every  facility  of  water  transporta- 
tion. Pango  Lake  and  Lake  Phelps  are  connected  with  the  sound  by 
canals  large  enough  to  admit  access  to  the  sail  vessels  used  in  shipping 
the  products  of  the  farms. 

Plymouth,  the  county  seat,  on  the  Roanoke  River,  has  a  population 
of  1,212,  Creswell  of  200,  and  Roper  village  of  400. 

Washington  County  has  170,064  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $511,318, 
and town  lots,  valued  at  $119,355. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  653  horses,  450  mules,  1  jack,  25 
goats,  3,043  cattle,  6,372  hogs,  and  876  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $2,775.72;  pensions,  $408.66; 
schools,  $4,091.31;  countv,  $6,205.21. 

Population— white,  4,961 ;  colored,  5,239;  total,  10,200. 


200  HAND-rOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


WATAUGA. 

Watauga  County  occupies  the  whole  breadth  of  the  narrower  part  of 
the  transmontane  phiteau,  being  bounded  for  the  most  part  north- 
westward by  the  Smoky  range  and  south-easLward  by  the  I3hie  Ridge. 
It  is  traversed  in  a  northerly  course  by  two  massive  cross  chains  con- 
necting the  summits  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  Smoky  Mountains,  the 
Rich  Mountains  and  the  chain  of  Hanging  Rock  and  Beech.  Its 
average  elevation  would  about  equal  that  of  Ashe  County — 3,500  feet. 
Its  whole  surface  is  rugged  and  mountainous,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  limited  tracts  along  the  two  principal  rivers,  where  considerable 
valleys  open  out,  with  occasional  stretches  of  bottom  lands.  The  soils 
and  forests,  as  well  as  the  predominant  agricultural  features  of  this 
county,  are  like  those  of  Ashe  County.  Tliere  is  great  abundance  of 
chestnut  in  its  forests,  and  on  the  Rich  Mountains  there  are  great 
quantities  of  linden.  Its  high  levels  and  benches  are  the  best  grass 
lauds  in  the  State,  and  in  consequence  cattle-raising  enters  largely  into 
its  agriculture.  It  also  produces  corn  and  small  grains  in  considerable 
quantities,  including  wheat,  r3^e  and  buckwheat,  the  county  leading  in 
the  last-named  crop.  Of  the  county  area,  18.89  per  cent,  is  tilled  land, 
of  which  very  little  is  cultivated  in  cotton. 

Watauga  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  mountain  counties  of  North 
Carolina,  less  developed  than  most  of  them,  but  behind  none  in  its 
natural  resources  as  a  grain,  grass,  live  stock,  dairy,  fruit,  wine  and 
lumber  region.  It  abounds  in  undeveloped  mineral  wealth,  one  of  the 
many  copper  mines  in  and  around  Elk  Knob  being  the  only  one  which 
has  as  yet  been  actively  worked,  and  extensive  operations  on  it  have 
been  commenced  and  profitably  pursued,  but,  for  suiHcient  causes, 
operations  have  been  suspended. 

Boone,  the  county  seat,  is  at  an  elevation  of  3,342  feet  above  sea-level, 
the  most  elevated  county  seat  in  the  United  States. 

The  famous  summer  resort,  Blowing  Rock,  is  on  the  southern  margin 
of  the  Blue  Ridge.  It  is  at  an  elevation  of  4,0!J0  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  and  is  equipped  with  good  hotels  for  the  entertainment  of 
yearly  increasing  swarms  of  visitors.  Within  a  short  distance  is  the 
famous  Grandfather  Mountain,  the  highest  point  in  the  Blue  Ridge 
Mountains.  A  few  miles  fr^m  P)lowing  Rock  is  the  summer  resort  of 
Linville. 

Watauga  County  contains  210,190  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $773,954, 
and  124  town  lots,  valued  at  $23,897. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,502  horses,  400  mule.s,  Ifl  jacks  and 
jennies,  15  goats,  8,403  cattle,  8,318  hogs,  8,180  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  S3,077  40;  pensions,  $486.65; 
schools,  $3,774.22;  county,  $8,209.89. 

Population — white,  10,180;  colored.  1.31  ;  total,  10,511. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COLNTIES.  201 


WAYNE. 


Wayne  County  lies  eastward  of  Jolmston  County,  south  of  Wilson 
County,  and  west  of  Greene,  on  the  waters  of  the  Neuse,  which  crosses 
its  middle  portion  and  drains  almost  the  whole  of  it  directly  and  by  its 
tributaries.  This  county  resembles  in  all  respects  the  adjoining  counties 
already  described.  Along  the  Neuse  River  and  some  of  the  other 
streams  are  considerable  bodies  of  alluvial  land  and  semi-swamp,  and 
not  infrequently  fringes  of  cypress  and  gum  swamp.  Along  the  south 
bank  of  the  Neuse  is  a  narrow  zone  of  pine  barrens,  conforming  in  its 
general  trend  to  the  curves  of  that  river,  and  having  a  breadth  of  from 
one  to  three  miles.  Both  this  county  and  Johnston  have  still  consider- 
able areas  of  turpentine  and  timber  lands. 

The  cotton  and  grain  products  of  Wayne  County  are  large,  and  those 
of  rice  and  potatoes  are  considerable.  There  is  an  abundance  of  marl, 
and  it  has  been  used  very  profitably  in  former  years;  but  latterly,  as 
in  the  cotton  region  generally,  commercial  fertilizers  have  usurped  the 
place  of  nearly  all  others. 

The  cotton  crop  of  Wayne  County  is  its  largest  money  crop,  in  1889 
amounting  to  12,394  bales.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  along  the  margins 
of  the  rivers  and  streams,  where  careful  drainage  has  been  effected, 
assures  abundant  returns  in  corn,  wheat,  potatoes,  peas,  and  also  in 
rice,  which  has  become  in  recent  years  a  large  and  remunerative  crop. 
Truck  farming  is  also  pursued  on  a  large  scale,  and  also  the  culture  of 
berries  and  small  fruits  for  the  Northern  markets,  abundant  railroad 
facilities  creating  the  means  of  successful  competition  with  all  Southern 
rivals.  And  these  facilities,  extended  in  all  directions,  have  stimulated 
all  industries,  agricultural  and  mechanical,  to  the  extent  of  greatly 
advancing  the  prosperity  of  the  w^hole  county. 

The  Wilmington  and  W'eldon  road  passes  through  the  county;  the 
Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  road  connects  it  with  Isewbern  and  More- 
head  City;  the  North  Carolina  road,  of  223  miles  in  length,  unites  it 
with  all  points  of  the  State  west  of  it,  and  the  Midland  road  connects 
it  with  Smithfield  and  the  short-cut  of  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon 
road,  contributing  to  create  at  Goldsboro  a  commanding  and  important 
railroad  centre.  The  Neuse  River  is  navigable  from  Newbern  through 
Wayne  County,  but  is  little  used  by  steamboats  above  Whitehall,  in 
the  south-east  corner  of  the  county. 

At  or  near  Whitehall  are  the  mineral  springs  known  as  the  Seven 
Springs,  valued  for  their  number  and  their  varied  and  efficient  curative 
qualities.     They  will  be  spoken  of  in  a  future  chapter. 

Goldsboro  is  the  county  seat,  favorably  situated  at  the  intersection  of 
the  railroads  already  named.  By  the  census  of  1890  it  had  a  popula- 
tion of  4,017.  The  city  contains  a  cotton  factory,  rice-mill,  furniture 
factory,  agricuHural  works,  knitting  factory,  cotton-seed  o'l-mill.  lumber 
mills,  cigar  factory,  and  other  minor  industrial  works.  Fremont  has  a 
population  of  377. 


202  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Wayne  Countv  has  325,045  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $1,975,991,  and 
1,065  town  lots,  valued  at  $1,085,261. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,624  horses,  1,910  mules,  1  jack,  2,521 
goats,  6,588  cattle,  25,924  hogs,  1,303  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $12,939.81;  pensions,  $1,624.10; 
schools,  $13,450.70;  countv,  $13,842.97. 

Population  — white,  15,115:  colored,  10,985;  total,  26,100. 

WILKES. 

Wilkes  County  lies  west  of  Surry,  and  differs  from  it  only  in  being 
more  mountainous  and  rugged  and  having  a  greater  average  elevation, 
not  less  than  1,500  feet.  Its  northern  margin  rests  on  the  summits  of 
the  Blue  Ridge  (at  an  elevation  of  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet),  its  .southern 
on  the  Brushy  Mountains  (from  2,000  to  2,500  feet  above  sea-level),  and 
its  whole  surface  is  carved  into  a  succession  of  mountain  ridges  and 
narrow  intervening  valleys  by  the  Yadkin  and  its  numerous  tributaries. 
Its  agriculture  and  its  forests  may  be  described  in  the  same  terms  as 
were  those  of  Surry,  except  that,  with  the  increase  of  elevation,  the 
growth  of  chestnut  increases,  and  a  new  forest  element  enters,  to  a  small 
extent,  in  the  white  pine  (P.  strobus),  both  in  the  South  Mountains  and 
on  the  flanks  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Along  the  margin  of  the  Yadkin 
River  and  its  larger  tributaries  are  frequent  and  wide  tracts  of  sandy 
and  clay  bottom  lands.  In  various  parts  of  the  county  are  small  areas 
of  reddish  clay  soil,  but  much  the  larger  part  of  it  shows  the  average 
oak  upland  .soil,  yellow  or  gray  sandy  loam.  The  lighter  soils  are  well 
adapted  to  the  highest  grades  of  tobacco,  the  culture  of  which  begins 
to  enter  largely  into  its  agriculture.  The  water-power  of  the  county  is 
very  large,  the  sources  of  its  multitude  of  rivers  having  an  elevation 
of  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet  above  tide,  and  their  mouths  less  than  1,000 
feet.  This  county  lies  mainly  between  the  highest  ridges  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  on  the  north-west,  and  tho.se  of  the  Brushy  Mountains  on  the 
south-east.  The  slopes  of  these  two  mountain  ranges  furnish  the  water- 
sheds which  meet  in  the  Yadkin  River.  These  watersheds  abound  in 
streams  of  much  beauty,  furnishing  at  the  same  time,  by  means  of  their 
many  waterfalls  and  shoals,  very  abundant  water-power,  wliilo  along 
their  banks  there  is  very  fertile  and  beautiful  land  for  farming  pur- 
po.ses.  The  number  of  these  streams  is  somewhat  remarkable.  Among 
them  are  the  Mulberry,  Roaring  River,  Reddie's  River  and  Little  Elkin 
on  the  north  side,  and  Moravian  and  others  on  the  south,  whose  united 
waters  soon  create  the  flood-tide  of  the  Yadkin,  serving  the  double  pur- 
pose of  mighty  and  exhaustless  water-power  and  the  i)rc.sentation  of  a 
series  of  broad  and  fertile  valleys,  scarcely  equalled  on  the  American 
continent.  The"se  valleys  are  all  remarkable  for  their  productiveness  in 
corn,  fertilized  by  the  sediment  deposited  at  every  overflow,  but  an  over- 
flow so  gentle  and  gradual  as  to  involve  no  damage  to  th-e  land  or  grow- 
ing crops.  Wilkes  is  not  a  large  producer  of  tobacco,  the  crop  of  1889 
being  given  as  only  17,322  pounds  ;  but  its  soil  invites  to  the  larger  cul- 
ture of  it,  and  recent  added  facilities  of  access  to  market  encourage  the 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  203 

ambitious  energy  of  the  farmers.  Cotton  is  so  little  appropriate,  either 
to  soil  or  climate,  that  in  1889  only  sixteen  bales  appear  to  have  been 
made.  But  in  all  the  small  grains,  in  potatoes  and  in  fruits,  every- 
where in  Wilkes  is  exuberance  and  excellence. 

The  Winston  and  Wilkesboro  Railroad,  an  extension  of  the  North- 
western North  Carolina  road,  extending  from  Winston  to  North  Wilkes- 
boro, a  distance  of  seventy-five  miles,  opens  up  a  section  heretofore 
accessible  with  difficulty,  touching  innumerable  mainsprings  of  pros- 
perity and  giving  promise  of  the  speedy  development  of  a  most  fertile 
country,  rich  in  all  the  elements  of  industrial  wealth,  and  enjoying  all 
those  advantages  of  healthfulness  and  scenic  beauty  common  to  the 
whole  Blue  Ridge  country  of  North  Carolina. 

Wilkesboro  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  336.  United 
with  North  Wilkesboro,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Yadkin,  by  elegant 
iron  bridges.  North  Wilkesboro,  the  present  terminus  of  the  railroad, 
is  a  new  and  growing  town. 

Wilkes  Countv  has  436,604  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $960,464,  and 
181  town  lots,  valued  at  $34,500. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,840  horses,  1,078  mules,  31  jacks 
and  jennies,  23  goats,  11,308  cattle,  17,101  hogs,  and  6,512  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation  —  for  State  use,  |4, 109.00;  pensions,  $663.96; 
schools,  $6,406.94;  county,  $13,776.69. 

Population— white,  20,633 ;  colored,  2,042  ;  total,  22,675. 

WILSON. 

Wilson  County  lies  on  the  western  border  of  the  long-leaf  pine  belt, 
and  its  soils  belong  almost  exclusively  to  the  region  of  level  upland 
piny  woods,  and  correspond  to  those  of  Edgecombe.  This  county  is 
traversed  by  numerous  streams,  the  most  notable  of  which  is  the  Con- 
tentnea,  along  which,  as  well  as  its  tributaries,  are  found  considerable 
tracts  of  alluvial  land  and  swamps  (gum  and  cypress).  In  all  respects 
the  agriculture  of  this  county  repeats  that  of  Edgecombe,  both  as  to 
practice  and  as  to  results.  Marl  is  found  in  the  eastern  half  of  the 
county. 

Wilson  is  a  large  cotton  producing  county,  the  crop  for  1889  being 
returned  in  the  census  report  for  1890  at  11,129  bales. 

It  is  altogether  a  thrifty,  prosperous  county  with  numerous  elements 
of  prosperity.  It  is  traversed  by  the  W^ilmington  and  Weldon  Rail- 
road, advantageous  to  its  industry  and  promotive  of  the  creation  and 
growth  of  several  thrifty  towns.  Wilson,  the  largest  of  these,  is  the 
county  seat,  with  a  population  of  2,126.  Here  is  a  cotton  factory, 
tobacco  sales  houses,  fruit  and  flower  nurseries,  a  female  college,  graded 
schools,  churches,  etc.  Black  Creek  has  a  population  of  191,  Saratoga 
of  100,  and  Toisnot  of  482. 

Tobacco  culture  has  recently  developed  with  rapidity  in  Wilson 
County,  almost  altogether  in  the  best  qualities.  In  1879  the  crop  was 
stated  officially  to  be  8,745  pounds.  In  1889  it  is  returned  in  the  census 
report  at  232,966  pounds.  Sales  warehouses  have  been  erected  in  the 
town  of  Wilson,  and  the  prospect  is  for  steady  increase  in  production 


204  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 

In  Wilson  County  there  are  228,928  acres  of  land,  valued  at  SI, 538,660, 
and  615  town  lots, Valued  at  $618,924. 

Of  domestic  animals  there  are  1,039  horses,  1,723  mules.  2  jacks  and 
jennies,  1,870  goats,  3,581  cattle,  16,606  hogs,  and  1,470  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $9,143.04;  pensions,  SI, 236. 95; 
schools,  $9,786. 7H:  county,  §4,1 90.82.  ' 

Population — white,  10,884;  colored,  7,760;  total,  18,614. 

YADKIN. 

Yadkin  County  lies  immediately  north  of  Davie,  in  the  hend  of  the 
Yadkin  River,  which  bounds  it  northward  and  eastward.  It  is  tra  versed 
in  a  nearly  east  and  west  course  by  the  Brushy  Mountains,  which  here 
drop  down  into  low  spurs  and  swells,  the  average  elevation  of  the  county 
being  probably  not  greater  than  1,200  feet.  Its  soils  and  forests  are 
like  those  of  Davie  County.  Its  agricultural  interest  is  divided  between 
the  production  of  tobacco  and  grain  crops,  the  product  of  the  latter 
nearly  reaching  half  a  million  bushels.  Cotton  culture  has  invaded  its 
southern  border  to  a  small  extent  within  a  few  years.  There  are  sev- 
eral iron  mines  in  the  county,  but  they  have  been  little  worked,  as  they 
are  too  far  from  market. 

The  tobacco  crop  for  1889  is  stated  officially  to  have  been  373,672, 
while  that  of  1879  was  177,595.  The  cotton  crop  for  1889  was  only  5 
bales,  while  that  of  1879  was  26. 

Yadkin  County  being  bounded  on  the  north  and  east  by  the  Yadkin 
River,  has  the  benefit  of  the  Winston  and  Wilkesboro  road  which  runs 
along  the  north  bank  of  that  stream.    There  is  no  railroad  in  the  county. 

Yadkinville  is  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  175. 

Yadkin  County  has  212,701  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $926,1 2(),  and 
295  town  lots,  valued  at  $46,168. 

Of  domestic  animals,  there  are  1,329  horses,  1,202  mules,  20  jacks 
and  jennies,  5  goats,  4,878  cattle,  8,131  liogs,  and  2,483  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation— for  State  use,  $3,699.98;  pensions,  $599.21; 
school,  $4,654.47;  county,  $5,082.73. 

Population — white,  12,421;  colored,  1,369;  total,  13,770. 

YANCEY. 

Yancey  County  lies  on  the  west  of  Mitchell.  This  county  is  pre- 
eminently mountainous.  The  l^)lack  Mountains  penetrate  it  from  the 
south-east  and  extend  to  its  centre  near  Burnsville,  the  county  seat. 
There  are  twentv  summits  of  this  range  in  this  county  rising  above 
6,300  feet,  the  highest,  Mitchell's  High  IVak,  being  6,717  feet,  the  high- 
est point  in  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  Smoky 
Mountains  separate  this  county  from  Tennessee,  the  highest  peak  within 
its  limits  being  the  l>ald  Mountain,  5,550  feet  in  height.  Numerous 
cross-chains  intersect  the  county  in  all  directions,  leaving  very  little 
vallev  land  except  along  the  margins  of  numerous  small  streams,  with 
broader  ones  along  the  larger  streams,  Toe  and  Caney  Rivers.     But 


DESCRIPTION    OF    COUNTIES.  205 

mountains  are  the  characteristics  of  the  county.  These,  without  excep- 
tion, are  fertile  to  the  very  top,  covered  with  deep,  ricli  and  friable  soil, 
in  their  natural  condition  bearing  trees  of  great  size.  The  walnut  often 
attains  the  diameter  of  eight  feet,  the  wild  cherry  a  height  of  sixty  feet 
to  the  first  limb,  and  with  a  diameter  of  four  feet,  the  poplar  with  a 
diameter  often  feet,  the  black  birch  or  mountain  mahogany,  the  oak 
of  several  species,  the  hickory,  maple  and  ash,  the  yellow  locust  and 
other  trees,  all  of  giant  size.  The  quantity,  magnitude  and  excellence 
of  forest  stores  has  attracted  attention  from  abroad,  and  large  supplies 
are  now  annually  cut,  sawed  and  shipped. 

Brought  into  cultivation,  the  soil  is  very  fertile,  producing  all  the 
grains,  grasses  and  fruits,  the  apples  being  of  notable  excellence. 
Tobacco  of  great  excellence  is  produced,  and  the  culture  is  rapidly 
extending.  The  mountain  sides,  when  cleared,  are  finely  adapted  to 
all  the  grasses;  large  quantities  of  sheep  are  raised,  and  cattle  in  large 
numbers  are  annually  driven  off  to  the  Virginia  markets. 

This  county  is  rich  in  metals  and  minerals.  Magnetic  iron  abounds 
but  is  not  yet  mined.  Other  ores  of  iron  are  abundant.  Copper  has 
been  found.  Asbestos,  corundum  and  mica  are  abundant,  one  of  the 
most  prolific  veins  in  the  United  States  being  worked  near  Burnsville. 

Tobacco  of  excellent  quality  is  produced  to  the  extent  of  139,464 
pounds,  according  to  the  Census  Report  for  1890. 

Burnsville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  small  population.  It  is  situated  at 
an  elevation  of  2,840  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Yancey  County  has  162,799  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $389,812,  and  55 
town  lots,  valued  at  $10,395. 

Of  domestic  animals,  there  are  1,185  horses,  587  mules,  10  jacks  and 
jennies,  5,252  cattle,  6,460  hogs,  3,671  sheep. 

Product  of  taxation — for  State  use,  $1,467.95;  pension,  $278.74; 
schools,  $3,044.89;  countv,  $3,740.40. 

Population— white,  9,197;  colored,  293;  total,  9,490. 


206  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTS  OF  NORTH 

CAROLINA. 

It  is  now  an  old  story  that,  in  the  details  of  the  census  reports  on 
the  crops  aod  products  of  the  several  States  of  the  American  Union, 
in  North  Carolina  only  were  the  divisional  columns  completely  tilled 
under  their  headings  of  the  various  crops  produced;  and  that  in  this 
State  alone  was  found  in  practical  and  profitable  culture  whatever  else 
was  cultivated  in  every  other  State,  whether  North  or  South,  East  or 
West.  However  trite  this  story  has  become,  it  can  never  lose  its  impor- 
tance; it  emphasizes  the  fact  that  North  Carolina  is  that  happy  middle 
ground,  that  fortunate  zone  of  climatic  harmonies  where  the  rigors  of 
the  Northern  cold  and  the  ardors  of  the  Southern  heats  so  meet  and 
blend  as  to  compose,  in  their  tempered  extremes,  that  ameliorated  tem- 
perature in  which  the  vegetation  of  all  antagonizing  climates  may  find 
not  only  life  but  vigor.  And  to  these  happy  compromises  and  compo- 
sitions of  climate  are  to  be  added  those  equally  happy  conditions  of 
soil  which  alike  favor  the  gross  luxuriant  feeder  of  the  Southern  fields 
and  the  hardy  and  more  abstemious  plants  of  the  Northern  farms. 

This  striking  peculiarity  is  largely,  if  not  altogether,  due  to  those 
causes  referred  to  in  the  previous  chapter  on  "Forestry,"  in  which 
it  was  shown  that  the  difference  in  elevation  between  tlie  different 
extremes  of  the  State,  the  gradual  ascent  through  a  space  of  nearl}' 
four  hundred  miles  from  the  level  of  the  sea  to  the  heights  of  the 
mountain  plateaus,  alone  to  be  considered  in  relation  to  agriculture,  is 
the  same  in  effect  as  the  ascent  in  latitude,  from  the  almost  tropical 
shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  actually  frigid  regions  of  the  lakes 
and  the  Saint  Lawrence.  And  to  the  influence  of  low  level  on  our 
Atlantic  shore  is  to  be  added  the  potent  influences  of  the  Gulf  Stream, 
which  sweeps  along  as  far  as  Cape  llatteras  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
coast,  bearing  with  it  something  more  than  balmy  mildness;  it  carries 
along  in  its  breath  a  stimulus  to  vegetable  growth,  as  if  its  mission 
were  to  strew  along  its  long  extended  track  tlie  triumphs  of  its  creative 
energy  and  bear  even  to  the  poles  the  trophies  of  its  potency. 

Thus  is  explained  why  the  palmetto,  the  magnolia  and  tlie  live-oak 
are  at  home  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina;  and  thus  we  find  in  the 
fields  of  (Columbus  and  adjacent  counties  the  sugar-cane  of  Louisiana 
as  luxuriant  in  growth,  as  juicy  in  its  flow  of  sap  and  as  rich  in  its 
yield  of  granulated  sugar  as  if  its  juices  had  been  drawn  from  the 
teeming  soil  and  ripened  by  the  hot  sun  of  a  tropical  /.one.  And, 
reversing  the  points  of  observation,  we  find  the  sugar-maple  trees  of 
the  mountains  as  bountiful  in  their  flow  of  sap  and  as  rich  in  their 
yield  of  sugar  as  if  they  owed  their  hardy  life  to  the  cold  airs  of  Ver- 
mont. Li  the  first  case,  depression  of  level  has  associated  our  eastern 
section  with  the  influences  of  the  tropics;  in  the  other  its  uplift  into  a 
mountain  elevation  has  thrust  it  into  assimilation  with  Canadian 
atmospheric  conditions.     It  will  be  well  understood,  then,  as  illustrated 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  207 

by  the  extremes  presented,  what  a  broad,  fruitful  field  North  Carolina 
presents  for  the  profitable  culture,  if  not  literally  side  by  side,  yet  in 
reasonable  contiguity,  of  all  the  field  crops  cultivated  in  the  United 
States.  From  its  extensive  territory,  from  its  east  or  its  west  are  drawn 
those  large  contributions  to  the  maintenance  of  the  people  and  the 
commerce  of  the  world — the  rice  of  the  coast  and  the  buckwheat  of  the 
mountains,  the  cotton  of  the  South  and  the  flax  of  New  England,  the 
corn,  the  wheat,  the  rye,  the  oats,  the  barley,  the  sorghum,  the  potatoes, 
the  peas,  the  tobacco,  the  vegetables,  the  fruits,  the  grapes,  the  every- 
thing— which,  if  North  Carolina  knew  herself,  if  the  stranger  knew  her 
as  she  ought  to  be  known,  would  make  her  the  most  coveted  and  most 
prosperous  country  upon  which  the  sun  sheds  his  fertilizing  beams. 

In  the  presentation  of  the  important  crops  produced  in  North  Caro- 
lina it  is  unfortunate  that  the  full  reports  of  all  the  crop  results  have 
not  yet  been  given  to  the  public  in  detail.  We  are  under  obligations 
to  the  Commissioner  of  the  Census  for  the  full  report  of  the  cotton  and 
tobacco  crops  of  North  Carolina,  and  will  use  them  so  far  as  they  meet 
present  objects.  For  some  of  the  other  crops  we  present  the  following 
summar}^,  assumed  to  be  proximately  correct: 

There  were  produced  in  North  Carolina  in  1888  of  corn  35,830,000 
bushels,  wheat  5,094,000  bushels,  rye  395,000  bushels,  oats  8,405,000 
bushels,  barley  3,000  bushels,  buckwheat  57,000  bushels,  potatoes 
1,114,000  bushels.  But  this  last  is  evidently  erroneous,  since  in  1880  the 
yield  of  sweet  potatoes  alone  was  4,576,148.  Irish  potatoes  alone  exceed 
in  quantity  the  figures  named.  Rice  is  not  mentioned;  in  1880  the 
yield  was  5,009,191  pounds.  The  quantity  has  increased,  rather  than 
diminished,  since. 

While  claiming  for  North  Carolina  an  almost  universalty  of  produc- 
tion, and  that  to  a  high  degree  of  excellence,  it  is  with  no  boastful 
purpose  to  make  immodest  demands  for  recognition  of  her  superiority, 
yet  isolated  instances  might  give  just  foundation  for  boastfulness,  a  few 
of  which  are  here  cited : 

His  Excellency,  Governor  Thomas  M.  Holt,  made  on  his  Davidson 
County  farm,  on  eighty  acres,  on  a  clover  sod  and  without  other  ferti- 
lizer, an  average  of  over  forty-six  bushels  to  the  acre. 

The  wheat  of  Stanly  County  has  an  average  weight  of  sixty-four 
pounds  to  the  bushel,  and  seventy-two  pounds  is  not  uncommon,  such 
an  example  being  given  in  the  Exhibition  at  Vienna. 

In  cotton,  Mr.  Buffaloe,  living  near  Raleigh,  made  in  1890,  with  three 
ploughs,  100  bales  of  cotton,  an  average  of  a  bale  and  a  half  to  the 
acre,  and  has  not  made  less  than  twenty  bales  to  the  horse  in  manv 
years;  and  there  are  many  farmers  who  make  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  bales  per  horse  in  Wake,  and  also  in  other  counties.  Authentic 
instances  are  noted  in  Buncombe  County  of  over  one  thousand  bushels 
of  Irish  potatoes  to  the  acre;  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  bushels 
of  corn  have  been  raised  on  one  acre.  Of  tobacco,  it  has  not  been  infre- 
quent to  make  sales  of  $650  to  the  acre. 

North  Carolina  may  share  in  the  eulogy  pronounced  by  Chauncey  M. 
Depew  before  the  Alumni  Association  of  Yale  College  after  his  return 
from  his  visit  to  the  South.     He  says: 


20S  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  net  results  of  this  visit  to  the  South,  to  my  mind,  is  just  this:  that  The  South 
IS  THE  Bonanza  of  the  Fi'TtTRE.  We  have  developed  all  the  great  and  sudden  oppor- 
tunities for  wealth — or  most  of  them — in  the  North-western  States  and  on  the  Pacific 
Slope,  but  here  is  a  vast  country  with  the  best  climate  in  the  world,  with  condi- 
tions of  health  wliich  are  absolutely  unparalleled;  with  vast  forests  untouched:  with 
enormous  veins  of  coal  and  iron  wliich  yet  have  not  known  anything  beyond  their 
original  conditions;  with  soil  that,  under  proper  cultivation,  for  little  capital  can  sup- 
port a  tremendous  poi)ulati()n;  with  conditions  in  the  atmosphere  for  comfortable 
living,  winter  and  sunnner,  wliit-h  exist  nowhere  else  in  this  country:  and  that  is  to 
be  the  attraction  for  the  yoimg  men  who  go  out  from  the  farms  to  s(.>ek  settlement, 
and  not  by  inmiigratioj\  from  abroad,  for  I  do  not  think  they  will  go  that  way:  but 
by  the  internal  immigration  fr<jm  our  own  country  it  is  to  become  in  time  as  ])rosper- 
ous  as  any  other  section  of  the  country,  and  as  prosperous  by  a  purely  American 
developjient. 

TOBACCO. 

This  important  product  has  always  had  leading  recognition  in  Xorlh 
Carolina  as  well  as  in  Virginia,  in  which  State  it  became  a  staple  from 
the  earliest  colonial  times.  The  plant  was  a  native  of  the  American 
continent,  and  its  use  by  the  natives  prevailed  wherever  the  white  dis- 
coverers appeared,  whether  on  the  islands  or  on  the  continental  shores; 
and  the  whites  quickly  adopted  a  fascinating  habit,  which  was  acquired 
with  ready  facility,  for  the  fascination  of  its  spell  fell  with  equal  charm 
upon  the  white  man  as  well  as  upon  the  savage;  and  the  most  precious 
boon  bestowed  by  the  new  world,  more  precious  and  more  humanizing 
than  gold  or  silver,  was  that  weed  which  carried  in  its  juices  and  in  its 
odors  that  seductive  and  soothing  principle  providentially  adapted  to 
cheer  and  to  soothe,  and  to  supply  at  last  that  elixir  which  mankind 
had  always  been  craving,  always  seeking,  and  never  finding  until  it 
was  attained  in  the  discovery  of  the  new  world. 

The  marvelous  avidity  with  which  the  discovery  was  turned  to  use, 
the  rapidity  with  which  a  new  and  unanticipated  habit  was  created 
and  diffused,  was  illustrated  by  the  prompt  abandonment  by  the  Vir- 
ginia colonists  of  their  vain  search  after  gold,  and  the  diversion  of  all 
their  interest  and  industry  to  the  cultivation  of  tobacco.  As  early  as 
1615,  only  seven  years  after  the  settlement  of  Jamestown,  every  acre 
of  the  colony  was  applied  to  tobacco,  even  to  the  neglect  of  much- 
needed  food  crops:  for  the  people  of  England  quickly  learned  its  uses, 
and  the  colonists  as  quickly  learned  that  they  possessed  a  valuable 
foundation  of  prosperity,  a  commodity  of  which  they  held  the  monop- 
oly, one  always  in  demand,  one  that  might  assure  them  commercial 
strength  and  independence.  With  the  expansion  of  the  colony  into 
the  lands  of  the  interior,  the  culture  of  tobacco  spread  with  propor- 
tionate rapidity,  and  the  product  became  almost  the  sole  article  of  export 
to  iMigland,  and  the  sole  medium  of  exchange.  In  the  absence  also  of 
money  it  also  became  the  legitimate  currency  of  the  country,  with 
which  merchandise  was  purcliased,  salaries  paid,  taxes  discharged,  and 
with  whicli  the  stipends  of  the  clergy  were  discharged.  And  \''irginia 
was  formed  into  a  great  tobacco  paradise,  where  material  and  senti- 
mental aspirations  were  alike  supplied  and  gratified. 

With  the  progress  of  settlement  and  the  enlargement  of  colonial 
territory,  North  Carolina  partook  of  the  agricultural  and  commercial 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS    OF    MORTH    CAROLINA.  209 

habits  of  Virginia.  With  the  one,  as  with  tlie  other,  in  those  days 
tobacco  was  the  sole  product  of  the  fields  that  could  bring  the  needed 
returns  in  money,  or  its  equivalent,  for  the  labor  bestowed;  the  only 
item  that  encouraged  conflict  with  the  wilderness  to  reduce  it  to  culti- 
vation; the  only  one  that  promised  future  wealth  to  the  newly  founded 
Commonwealth.  Upon  those  parts  of  North  Carolina  where  settlements 
were  made  and  fields  were  opened,  tobacco  was  the  leading  crop,  even 
in  those  parts  where  it  was  subsequently  abandoned  to  be  re&umed 
again  in  our  day  with  more  distinction  and  far  more  profitable  returns. 
In  North  Carolina,  as  in  Virginia,  tobacco  became  the  currency  of  the 
country. 

It  is  well  known  that  until  1857,  when  the  process  was  discovered  of 
giving  to  tobacco  that  l)right  golden  color  and  that  exquisite  delicacy 
of  texture  which  has  so  greatly  enhanced  its  value — previous  to  that 
year  various  processes  were  adopted  with  reference  chiefly  to  the  pro- 
duction of  chewing  tobacco  of  greater  or  less  excellence  by  such  sys- 
tems as  the  habitsof  generations  had  approved — sun-curing,  kiln-curing, 
flue-curing,  all,  however,  resulting  in  a  dark  material,  packed  and  mar- 
keted according  to  intrinsic  value,  the  lower  priced  qualities  being 
packed  in  hogsheads  which  supplied  themselves  the  place  of  wagons, 
revolving  on  spindles  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  circumference  of  the 
heads,  to  which  shafts  were  attached,  to  which  a  team  of  two  or  three 
animals  was  hitched  and  then  dragged  off"  to  distant  markets — to 
Petersburg  or  Fayetteville — through  mud  and  water,  to  the  reduction 
of  whatever  value  the  rude  material  ma}'  have  had.  For  such  tobacco 
prices  were  only  nominal,  but  it  supplied  in  quantity  what  was  lost  in 
quality;  for  then  tobacco  was  grown  on  strong  new  land,  and  the  leaf 
grew  large,  lusty  and  heavy.  But  when  fine  color  was  made  the  desider- 
atum in  connection  with  quality,  the  quality  of  the  soil  in  reference  to 
color,  texture  and  flavor  became  a  subject  of  prime  consideration;  and 
the  cure,  preparation  and  marketing  operations  of  exceeding  nicety, 
profound  experience  and  consummate  skill.  The  results  have  brought 
both  a  revelation  and  a  revolution;  a  revelation  of  the  capacity  of  a 
dark,  coarse-leaved,  strongly  flavored  leaved  plant  for  transformation 
into  the  golden  hued,  silky  fibred,  delicately  perfumed  article,  high- 
priced  Virginia  Brights! 

Of  all  the  contradictions  ever  arrayed  against  indisputable  facts,  of  all 
the  wrongs  committed  against  existing  rights,  of  all  the  baseless  claims 
ever  made  against  authentic  priority,  of  all  the  arrogance  that  lays  title 
to  name  and  fame  to  that  which  brings  honor  and  profit  to  its  origi- 
nator and  almost  sole  producer,  none  are  so  unfounded  as  those  which 
attaches  the  name  of  "  Virginia  Brights"  to  the  unrivalled  leaf  of  North 
Carolina.  It  was  in  North  Carolina  it  had  its  origin ;  it  was  here  it  made 
its  home,  it  is  here  it  is  destined  to  live  without  the  fear  of  successful 
competition.  For  with  the  exception  of  portions  of  Halifax  and  Pitt- 
sylvania Counties,  in  Virginia,  it  remains  the  exclusive  glory  of  North 
Carolina.  Nor  is  it  confined  to  the  section  in  which  it  originated,  or 
rather  where  the  process  that  has  so  magnified  tobacco  was  first  perfected. 
In  that  section,  Caswell  and  Person,  Granville  and  Vance,  Orange  and 
14 


210  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Durham,  Alamance  and  Guilford,  Rockingham  and  Stokes,  Forsyth 
and  Surry;  in  the  east,  Nash  and  Edgecombe,  Pitt  and  Greene,  Halifax 
and  Wilson;  in  the  west,  Buncombe  and  Madison,  Yancey  and  Mitch- 
ell, Haywood  and  Swain,  are  not  only  large  producers  of  tobacco,  but 
also  of  bright  tobacco,  the  sole  difference  in  quality  being  that  derived 
from  longer  experieoce  in  the  processes  of  cure;  and  from  these  and 
other  counties  not  named,  are  derived  nine  tenths  of  the  tobacco  that 
goes  on  the  foreign  markets  as  Virginia  Brighls  But  perha]>s  the 
censure  we  naturally  affix  upon  Virginia  for  the  absorption  of  an  honor 
properly  belonging  to  North  Carolina  may  be  modified  by  the  reflec- 
tion that  the  application  of  her  name  to  our  property  was,  to  some  extent, 
natural  and  unavoidable.  From  time  immemorial  our  tobacco  was 
taken  to  her  markets  and  shipped  from  her  ports  It  never  went  to 
any  North  Carolina  port  except  in  a  past  peril  d  \Ahen  the  heavy  tobac- 
cos, in  their  coarse  packages  of  Chatham,  Orange  and  some  other  coun- 
ties, found  their  way  to  sea  out  of  Wilmington  by  way  of  Fayetleville. 
The  rest  went  to  Richmond  and  thence  to  Europe.  There  it  received 
the  name  of  the  State  from  which  it  was  shippe  1.  Virginia  was  not 
reluctant  to  appropriate  the  honor  thus  implied,  and  was  quite  willing 
to  be  magnified,  even  at  the  expense  of  her  neighbor. 

Since  North  Carolina  has  become  a  tobacco  manufacturing  Slate, 
which  she  was  not  in  former  days,  and  since  she  has  become  famous 
the  world  over  for  the  products  of  her  bright  tobacco,  her  smoking 
tobacco  and  her  cigarettes,  it  is  due  to  her  honor  and  her  interest  that 
she  should  make  the  effort  to  reclaim  what  she  has  lost  and  iterate  the 
demand  for  the  application  of  the  right  name  for  that  which  she  almost 
exclusively  produces.  British  commercial  nomenclatui'e  partakes  of 
all  the  tenacious,  unchanging  conservatism  that  attaches  to  everything 
British.  The  leading  dealers  and  manufacturers  ma\',  by  persistent 
appeal,  arouse  that  sense  of  justice  which  is  as  inherent  in  the  British 
mind  as  its  conservatism.  Let  the  demand  go  u\)  with  unceasing  cry 
fi»r  the  application  of  the  proi)er  name,  in  the  European  markets,  of 
North  Carolina  Bright-. 

EXTENT  OF  THE  TOBACCO  AREA  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

There  are  ninety-six  counties  in  North  Carolina,  of  which  twelve,  viz.: 
Camden,  Carteret,  Cniven,  Gaston,  Gates,  Hertford,  Hyde,  Mai  tin,  Per- 
fiuimans,  Richmond,  Tyrrell,  and  Washington,  are  not  returned  in  the 
Census  Report  of  181)0  as  producing  tobacco.  All  of  these,  except  Gas- 
ton and  Richmond,  are  in  the  East  where  the  prevalence  of  the  drained 
swamp  lands  and  the  poverty  of  the  soils  may  oppose  its  culture.  But 
it  is  probable  that  even  in  these  the  plant  is  cultivated  for  home  use. 

VALUE  OF  THE  CROP. 

Prices  that  may  seem  fabulous  have  been  obtained  in  numerous  sec- 
tions for  the  very  highest  grades  of  bright  tobacco.  In  (.Jranville, 
Caswell,  Person,  Durham,  Alamance,  and  other  counties,  prices  ranging 


AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.         211 

from  $1.-50  to  $3  per  pound  have  not  been  uncommon.  Perhaps  the 
fairest  statement,  to  be  accepted  as  free  from  exaggeration,  is  presented 
by  Mr.  W.  W.  Wood,  in  his  address  before  the  Tobacco  Association  of 
North  Carolina,  at  Winston,  in  August,  1891.  He  has  selected  groups 
of  farmers  in  a  few  counties  to  illustrate  the  average  of  prices.  His 
statements  are  moderate,  as  will  occur  to  those  acquainted  with  many 
more  striking  examples.     He  says: 

"In  Surry  County  fifteen  farmers  obtained  a  combined  average  price 
of  26i"u  cents  per  pound,  the  combiiifd  average  amount  produced  to 
the  acre  being  498  pounds,  equal  to  $132.46,  less  cost  ($51.25) — equal 
to  $81.21  profit  per  acre. 

"In  Rockingham  County  fourteen  farmers  combined;  average  price 
obtained  was  33tV  cents  per  pound,  the  average  number  of  pounds  to 
the  acre  being  477,  equal  to  $157.80  less  cost  ($51.25),  equal  to  $106.55 
profit  per  acre. 

"In  Franklin  County  eleven  farmers  obtained  a  combined  average 
price  of  19|  cents  per  pound,  and  produced  the  combined  average  of 
916  pounds  to  the  acre,  equal  to  $177.09,  less  cost  ($51.25),  equal  to 
$125.84  profit  per  acre. 

"In  Vance  County  seven  farmers  received  a  combined  average  of  48| 
cents  per  pound,  and  produced  an  average  of  792  pounds  per  acre, 
equal  to  $383.13,  less  cost  ($51.25),  equal  to  $331.88  profit  per  acre. 

"In  Edgecombe  County  three  farmers  received  a  combined  average 
of  19^  cents  per  pound,  and  produced  an  average  of  1,493  pounds  per 
acre,  equal  to  $288.64,  less  cost  ($51.25),  equal  to  $237.39  profit  per 
acre.     A  most  wonderful  showing,  indeed,  of  pounds  per  acre. 

"In  Granville  County  five  farmers  received  a  combined  average  of 
27A  cents  per  pound,  and  produced  an*average  of  790  pounds  per  acre, 
equal  to  $219.62,  less  cost  ($51.25),  equal  to  $168.37  profit  per  acre. 

"In  Wilson  County  eight  farmers  received  the  combined  average  of 
22|  cents  per  pound,  and  produced  an  average  of  902  pounds  per  acre, 
equal  to  $205.19,  less  cost  ($51.25),  equal  to  $153.94  profit  per  acre." 

EXTENT  OF  THE  CROP. 

This  is  always  a  controverted  point  between  the  gatherers  of  the 
census  statistics  and  those  whose  transactions  in  the  markets  and  eL-e- 
wliere  would  seem  to  give  them  more  accurate  sources  of  information. 
In  the  same  address  Mr.  Woods  explains  the  di.screpi^ncy  upon  the 
habitual  reluctance  to  respond  to  official  inquiry,  even  to  tlie  extent  of 
listing  less  than  half  of  their  personal  taxable  property.  The  informa- 
tion of  the  other  is  drawn  chiefly  from  the  sales-books  of  the  warehouses 
of  the  State,  conducting  sales  in  twenty-five  or  more  markets  in  the 
State,  each  with  from  one  to  five  warehouses  in  which  the  business  is 
conducted  by  men  of  trusted  integrity  as  well  as  of  skill  and  expe- 
rience. The  conclusion  reached  by  Mr.  Wood,  in  careful  examination 
of  the  books  of  these  warehouses,  is  as  follows: 

"Six  of  these  markets  sell  annually  a  total  of  51,000,000  pounds,  an 
average  of  8,500,000  each,  16,000,000^being  the  greatest  and  5,000,000 


212  HAND-BOOK    OF   NORTH- CAROLINA. 

the  lowest  amount  sold  by  any  one  of  them.  Nine  others  of  them  sell 
annually  a  total  of  11,500,000,  averaging  above  one  and  one-quarter 
millions  each,  two  and  a  half  millions  being  the  greatest  and  one  mil- 
lion the  lowest  amount  sold  by  any  one  of  them.  The  remaining  ten 
markets  sell  annually  a  total  of  4,500,000,  averaging  about  500,000 
each,  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  pounds  being  the  greatest  and  one- 
tenth  of  a  million  the  smallest  amount  sold  by  any  one  of  them. 
These  facts  are  obtained  from  the  most  authentic  source — from  weights 
and  settlements  agreed  upon  between  the  producers  and  the  purchasers 
in  the  public  warehouses." 

And  he  adds: 

"Thus  North  Carolina  produces  annually  76,000,000  pounds  of  leaf 
tobacco,  and  07,000,000  pounds  are  sold  in  North  Carolina  markets. 
Deducting  5,000,000  pounds  of  the  amount  sold  (a  full  estimate)  to 
cover  leaf  resold  in  our  markets  by  speculators  and  thus  twice  or  more 
times  placed  on  the  sale  books  of  the  public  warehouses,  and  all  of  the 
leaf  sold  in  our  own  markets  from  other  States,  we  find  that  we  have 
sold  62,000,000  pounds  of  North  Carolina  tobacco  alone;  leaving  of  the 
76,000,000  produced  in  the  State,  a  balance  of  14,000,000  pounds  to 
cover  all  that  is  marketed  outside  of  it  by  our  farmers.  If  Danville, 
Petersburg  and  other  Virginia  markets  were  to  sell  annually,  as  they 
claim,  30,000,000  pounds  for  our  farmers,  who  sell  also  in  North  Caro- 
lina markets  62,000,000  pounds,  the  production  of  the  State  would 
show  the  startling  figures  of  02,000,000  pounds.  But  I  do  not  claim 
so  much  for  North  Carolina.  Due  allowance  must  be  made  for  exag- 
gerations, naturally  expected  of  outside  markets,  with  regard  to  the 
amount  of  leaf  they  sell  for  our  planters;  so  I  'charge  ott''  16,000,000 
of  the  30,000,000  pounds  that  they  claim  to  sell,  and  allow  that  they 
sell  14,000,000  pounds  only,  wh(ch,  added  to  the  62,000,000,  make 
76,000,000  pounds  produced  in  North  Carolina  as  at  first  stated." 

And  this  is  not  made  up  of  one  variety  alone,  as  might  be  inferred 
from  previous  illustrations  of  values.  "  Within  her  borders  is  produced 
such  a  variety  of  high-grade  leaf  and  in  such  quantities  as  is  nowhere 
else  to  be  found  the  world  over.  Upon  her  high  type  of  cutting  leaf 
the  great  cigarette  business  of  the  world  was  built  up.  Her  unsur- 
pas.sed  smokers  produced  in  the 'Golden  Belt,' placed  her  granulated 
smoking  tobacco  at  a  premium  over  all  others  in  the  world.  Iler 
mahogany  types  of  fillers  and  wrappers  are,  by  chewers  of  tobacco 
everywhere,  preferred  before  all  others." 

In  justice  to  the  faithful,  pains-taking,  if  erroneously  informed, 
gatherers  of  the  tobacco  statistics,  the  following  table  is  published  as 
setting  forth  the  crop  of  1880  in  tlie  census  of  1800.  The  census  of 
1880,  made  under  the  same  conditions,  showed  the  crop  of  1879  to 
have  been  2').08C),212  pounds. 


AGRICULTUEAL    PRODUCTS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  213 

TOBACCO  PRODUCTION  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA  FOR  1889. 
From  Tenth  Census  (Underestimated). 

Acres.  Pounds.  Value. 

The  State                                                       97.077  36,375,358      $5,175,833 

M'lmance        '"                                                  ^^.O'^  901,922  108,590 

lleSS-:::::::::::::::::::-: - 151  54,774  6,900 

Alleghany.-.. ..- - - 2  83.)  115 

A  neon                                      ^  "-^  ^' 

ir  ::::::::::: - -    i^  8,o8o  445 

Bladen -- ---          f  530  6.5 

Buncombe                                              3,049  1.482,688  225,665 

Ke   !;::::::::::::::::::-:-- leo  83,8i6  12,045 

Cabarrus 2  ^35  90 

Caldwell                     -- - 137  55,516  7,730 

Pa', veil  " "    "                                                           -       8,567  2,510,699  804,295 

Cntawba                        41  16,400  2,280 

cSCr:::::::::::::::::::::":::::::::::"----- 1,173  345,466  56,i6o 

Cherokee 15  2,140  41.5 

Clay                                    -- -        31  6,105  9.55 

Cleveland - -          1  610  115 

Columbus --          4  1,3<0  1.0 

SSn"':-:;::::::;:::::::::::::::::::::::::::  1,703  694,SS  101,3^5 

Dave                                                                                    .-3,593  668,616  74.350 

Duplin :■.".:■;.■.'.■.".'.:■-"-■.'.".■.:.--".■---■.:'. 6  2.100  1.50 

Durham"""'                                                    3,658  1,274..544  166,200 

Edo-ecombe                         ""WWIW -      119  51,420  10,800 

Forsvtli         -.4.119  1,607,323  213.773 

Franklin"."-".".::".'.'.".'-"-'-'.'-'". -  2,263  859,0b5  153,935 

Granvme ""::::::::::::::::  ":::::::::::::::::::--ii,i83  4,170:071  722.675 

ftreene                                                              --- 24  6,650  706 

Guilford :::::::::::.:.. 2,517  918,723  117,137 

Halifax :::::::::: -.. - 274  93,714  14,788 

Havwood — ' ::::::::::  1,707  86i:o96  137,775 

iSSl:::::::::::::::::::::::::: ..-  '  ei  22.486  3.050 

Iredell- 447  199,7^8  23,168 

Jackson--.- - —  - 54  25.211  2...00 

Sr^-- - - -        'I  '''^  'iTo 

Sr :::::::::::::::::::::::     e  3,000  325 

Uncohi """                 - -----          9  4,460  675 

S^u:::::::::::::::::::.- - 46  16,319  3.000 


Macon . 


3.695  370 


Madison"::::::::::::::::::::::: - --  4,749  3,168,823  322,503 

Mecklenburg 2  470  .^^ 

Mitchell  -^ - --      123  44,488  4.8  o 

Montgomery --          4  ,635  .0.5 

Moore                                             H^  4.),83S  b,44,) 

nS. :::::::::::::::::: - -  i.«23  782.713  mgo 

Northampton--- - --- - ---        1^  ^'^7»  50o 

Onslow                                          -  -  -  4o  0 

Ov'^Z ' '"                                  --- 2,411  73i^508  82,040 

Pender '" ::::::::::::--- -     5  3,185  no 

Srsnn -  -  7,100  2,327,201  323,713 

pftt        " 70  27,104  5,175 

p'lV :'    ----        11  5,461  985 

Sioipii::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::"- 146  50,180  8.800 

iSiST'' -"-::::::::::::::::::::  -"48  10,500  78o 

Rockingham --- 1«.688  4,189,416  489,972 

Rowan                  --- 390  187.724  32,075 

SuSford :::::::::::::::::::::::::: -    37  10,740  1,325 


7.655 

1.040 

6.200 

462 

3.119.289 

422.663 

1.429.025 

187,775 

47.543 

5,657 

6.509 

860 

120 

20 

1.979.070 

329,713 

479,585 

85,175 

846.150 

103.230 

4.540 

605 

112.010 

15.570 

17.322 

1.910 

232.966 

40.792 

373.672 

48.055 

139.464 

16.735 

214  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Acrex.  Po7in(1s.  TaZwe. 

Sampson — 19 

Stanly -  -  -        15 

Stokes - - -  -  J-~  J4 

Surry - ^''^'^J 

Swain - — - 93 

Transylvania 19 

Union ---  1 

Vance - 4,979 

Wake - - - 1,378 

Warren  . .  - - -  -  - 2, 153 

Watauga - - 23 

Wavne -- 330 

Wilkes -  -  - 59 

Wilson --      483 

Yadkin ----  1,004 

Yancey -  -      315 

RICE. 

This  very  important  and  highly  valuable  crop  has  been  the  chief 
industry  and  source  of  wealth  only  to  one  section  of  North  Carolina, 
because  of  the  choice  by  it  of  a  variet}-  superior  to  all  others  in  intrinsic 
merit  and  market  value,  and  of  the  existence,  in  that  favored  locality, 
of  special  natural  conditions  essential  to  the  perfection  of  the  product 
not  possessed  elsewhere  in  the  State.  It  will  be  shown  that  while  these 
conditions,  and  also  the  superiority  of  the  products  of  a  certain  well 
defined  area  are  incontestable,  no  cause  forbids  why  other  varieties  of 
rice,  of  possibly  inferior  quality,  may  not  be  diffused  over  the  State, 
introduced  into  portions  of  it  where  the  success  of  its  culture  might 
now  appear  chimerical,  and  not  only  greatly  enlarge  the  store  of  human 
sustenance,  but  make  valuable  addition  to  the  subjects  of  commercial 
interest. 

There  are  two  leading  varieties  of  rice  whose  names  are  defined  by 
their  nature,  and  whose  habits  of  growth  and  maturity  are  regulated 
by  the  systems  pursued  in  culture,  whether  dry  or  wet,  thus  giving  in 
the  market  distinctions  between  upland  and  lowland  rice.  But  the 
nature' and  the  habits  of  the  two  varieties  are  not  so  far  apart  as  to  be 
irreconcilable;  and  the  positions  of  the  two  might  be  interchangeable, 
if  desirable,  though  with  possible  detriment  to  both.  For  rice  is  a 
plant  of  great  flexibility  of  habit,  and  also  of  numerous  varieties,  or 
rather  sub-varieties,  of  one  fundamental  original;  so  that  adaptation, 
not  only  now  but  long  ago,  practically  has  been  found  for  the  plant 
not  only  to  situation  requiring  continued  moisture,  in  some  stages  of 
growth,  to  the  extent  of  continued  saturation,  but  for  tlie  opposite  con- 
dition of  comparative  aridity.  Thus  among  the  Philii)pine  Islands 
sixty-nine  varieties  are  noted  grown  in  the  marshy  Hats  of  the  coast 
area,  thence  inland  and  upland  until  rice  fields  are  found  productive 
high  up  the  dry  mountain-sides.  The  same  variation  is  found  on  the 
continental  lands  of  ]>ritish  India,  where  culture  of  rice  extends  from 
the  .soaked  morasses  of  the  Ganges  far  up  the  sides  of  the  foot-hills  of 
the  Himalayas.  An<l  this  is  the  case  also  in  Burmah  and  in  China, 
where  rice  is  essentially  the  food  of  all  classes  and  the  sole  dei)endence 
of  the  poor,  so  that  di.'^aster  to  the  rice  crop  is  the  occasion  of  those  ter- 


jiGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  215 

rible  fiimines,  the  story  of  which  so  frequently  horrifies  those  families  of 
mankind  to  whom  sole  reliance  upon  a  single  crop  is  almost  incon- 
ceivable. But  the  truth  is  that  rice  constitutes  the  chief  sustenance  (>f 
more  than  half  the  human  family.  That  it  has  done  so,  and  by  almost 
the  sole  virtues  of  its  powers  of  nutrition,  has  swelled  the  population 
of  the  peoples  dependent  upon  it  to  such  incredible  numbers,  is  con- 
vincing testimony  to  its  efficient  adaptation  to  its  uses.  With  the 
increase  of  population  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  the  constant 
pressure  upon  the  sources  of  food  supplv,  those  people  whose  wants 
must  be  supplied  with  that  wdiich  is  at  once  cheap  and  nutritious 
would  be  wise  to  adopt  more  generally  and  more  confidently  the  grain 
which  elsewhere  has  so  signally  manifested  its  capacity  not  only  to 
sustain  population,  but  maintain  and  perpetuate  it  in  vigor  and  health- 
fulne-s. 

As  a  people  the  Americans  have  not  taken  very  kindly  to  rice.  It 
has  been,  with  many,  despised  as  an  effeminate  diet,  fit  onl}^  for  the 
invalid  or  feeble  infancy,  or  if  admitted  to  the  table,  to  come  disguised 
as  a  dessert  or  confection.  The  Northern  and  the  Western  people  inva- 
riably prepare  it  with  sugar,  as  if  it  were  unable  to  perform  the  robust 
function  of  a  breadstuff  or  a  vegetable,  treated  as  the  manipulated 
product  of  sago,  tapioca  or  arrowroot.  The  Southern  people,  with  bet- 
ter knowledge  because  with  larger  experience  of  its  virtues,  consider 
it  as  indispensable  upon  their  tables,  either  plainly  boiled,  or  entering 
into  the  composition  of  bread,  waffles  and  johnny-(journey)-cakes,  and 
more  rarely,  of  puddings.  This  is  more  especially  the  case  in  the 
Southern  Atlantic  States.  Its  uses  are  beginning  to  find  more  favor  in 
the  interior.  The  great  variety  of  other  breadstufFs  in  the  United 
States,  and  the  relative  smallness  of  the  population,  has  made  the  cul- 
tivation of  new  tastes  unnecessary.  But  now  the  rapid  increase  of 
numbers  and  the  vast  proportion  of  non-producers  gives  warning  that 
the  time  has  come  to  add  all  resources  attainable  for  the  procurement 
of  a  full  supply  of  breadstuffs.  An  ample  resource  may  be  found  in 
rice,  if  varieties  are  cultivated  in  areas  of  country  not  dependent  upon 
the  wet  system  of  culture. 

The  first  rice  introduced  into  the  American  Colonies  was  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  From  the  few  grains  planted  in  the 
garden  of  Landgrave  Smith,  in  Charleston,  came  the  stock  upon  which 
was  founded  the  subsequent  great  rice  industry  of  South  Carolina, 
which  has  always  been  the  centre  of  the  rice-growing  region,  North 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  The  variety  introduced  was  the  "white"  rice, 
such  as  grown  in  China  and  Guiana  at  the  present  day,  but  long  since 
superseded  by  the  "golden  seed,"  introduced  just  prior  to  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  and  which  has  always  commanded  the  highest  prices  in 
both  home  and  foreign  markets.  •  This  is  the  variety  that  best  thrives 
in  water  culture,  and  this  system  requires  conditions  not  everywhere 
attainable.  The  soil  must  be  rich,  the  ground  must  be  low,  it  must  be 
at  will  under  control  of  overflow,  and  it  must  equally  be  subjected  to 
prompt  and  thorough  drainage.  The  overflow  must  be  that  of  fresh 
water,  and  the  drainage  must  be  controlled  by  the  operation  of  the 


216  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

tides.  These  combinations  can  only  exist  near  the  mouths  of  fresh- 
water streams,  and  as  the  Ca})e  Fear  river  is  the  only  stream  bearing 
down  a  body  of  fresh  water  directly  to  the  sea,  and  the  only  one  mate- 
rially affected  by  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides,  so  the  marshy  lands 
along  its  lower  course  offered  the  only  location  in  North  Carolina  that 
could  be  successfully  adopted.  And  thus  it  happens  that  this  section 
of  this  State  is  the  centre  of  the  tide-water  rice  culture  and  the  home 
of  the  rice  planters,  once,  more  than  now,  deriving  consideration  and 
wealth  from  the  monopoly  of  the  cultivation  of  a  single  staple,  valua- 
ble and  always  sure  of  a  market.  It  may  be  maintained  in  connection 
with  the  golden  seed  of  the  Cape  Fear  that  its  superiority  over  all  other 
American  rice  has  been  so  freely  admitted  elsewhere,  that  for  genera- 
tions it  has  been  used  as  the  seed  rice  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
some  of  the  Cape  Fear  planters  raising  their  crops  with  sole  reference 
to  this  object.  This  is  due  both  to  the  intrinsic  excellence  of  the  grain 
and  to  its  freedom  from  filth  and  admixture  with  inferior  qualities, 
results  of  careless  culture. 

While  the  golden  seed  was  accepted  as  the  variety  best  adapted  to 
the  tide-water  culture,  the  white  seed  was  not  without  its  friends,  and 
found  ready  and  wide  application  in  damp  lands  in  the  interior,  most 
often  to  be  seen  along  the  margins  of  small  streams  and  swamps  where 
moisture  could  be  obtained  and  yet  the  necessity  of  flooding  avoided. 
Indeed,  experience  has  demonstrated  that  it  can  be  grown  on  the  same 
soil  with  corn  and  other  grains,  and  may  be  seen  in  the  eastern  coun- 
ties side  by  side  with  dry-land  crops.  A  writer  in  Tlie  Bulletin  of  the 
North  Carolina  Department  of  Agriculture  for  April,  1892,  says: 

"Rice  may  be  grown,  but  will  not  fruit  well,  on  very  light  soils.  It 
prefers  moist  loams  and  the  lighter  clays.  The  soils  along  our  rivers, 
creeks  and  branches,  mud  bottoms,  marsh  lands  when  drained  and  not 
too  much  inclined  to  peat,  and  second  lowland*,  if  not  too  stiff,  are 
well  adapted  to  it.  It  can  be  grown,  and,  sometimes,  with  favorable 
seasons,  very  successfully,  on  high,  dr}'  uplands  of  good  quality,  but 
its  culture  there  is  hardly  to  be  recommended.  There  are  many  pond 
places  on  uplands  ihat  will  not  bring  corn,  but  will  bring  very  good 
rice  and  abundantly,  to">,  particularly  if  cowpened  or  if  cow-pen 
manure  is  used."' 

This  proves  the  wide  range  to  which  the  culture  of  the  upland  rice 
may  be  expanded,  not  only  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  State,  but  the 
extremest  western  borders  of  the  Piedmont  country,  if  not  into  the 
mountains;  for  if  the  necessary  inquiries  were  made,  without  question 
varieties  might  be  discovered  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  and  Indian 
Oceans  and  the  continent  of  Asia  which  would  flourish  in  the  soils  and 
localities  in  this  State.  It  is  not  open  to  conjecture  to  predict  the  suc- 
cess of  upland  rice  in  all  the  middle  and  most  of  the  ujiper  counties  of 
the  State,  as  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  census  of  1.S80  showed  that 
in  1879  the  counties  of  Lincoln,  Cleveland  and  Gaston,  Caldwell,  Burke 
and  McDowell,  far  western,  though  cis  montane  counties,  produced 
9,17<i  pounds;  and  the  sea-bound  and  long-leaf  j)ine  region,  omitting 
New  Hanover  and  Brunswick  Counties  which  produced  the  tide- water 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  217 

rice  exclusively,  bad  in  cultivation  9,027  acres,  and  produced  4,156,075 
pounds  upland  rice.  New  Hanover  had  315  acres  in  cultivation  and 
produced  260,008  pounds,  and  Brunswick  1,489  acres  and  1,163,852 
pounds.  The  census  returns  for  1889  have  not  yet  given  out  its  details 
in  respect  to  all  crops,  but  while  there  will  be  found  little  increase  in 
the  tide-water  crop,  it  is  believed  that  there  will  be  material  increase  of 
upland  culture. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  description  of  methods  of  culture  of  either 
the  upland  or  tide-water  crops.  That  information  must  be  obtained 
most  appropriately  elsewhere.  But  notice  may  be  taken  of  certain 
obstacles  in  the  wa}'  of  successful  upland  culture,  which  with  some  have 
been  urged  as  unsurmountable.  These  may  be  summed  up,  on  the 
tediousness  of  the  first  working  to  clearing  the  young  plant  of  grass,  in 
tide-water  culture  effected  by  water,  on  the  other  by  hand.  This  can 
only  be  overcome  by  patient  labor  with  the  consolation  that  when  once 
done,  it  is  done  forever.  The  other  is  loss  in  handling  the  crop;  and 
another,  liability  to  failure  from  blast.  Intelligence  has  found  out 
methods  to  avoid  the  first  on  some  crops  charged  with  the  same  liability, 
and  as  to  the  other  wheat,  oats  and  other  grains  are  subject  to  the  same 
casually.  In  the  introduction  of  new  and  untried  crops  men  are  apt  to 
expect  commendation  for  their  liberal  intelligence,  and  to  expect  from 
nature  suspension  of  her  laws  in  reward  for  their  courage.  Such  expec- 
tations may  be  dismissed;  but  the  remedy  may  be  found  by  going 
back  to  the  countries  from  which  the  white  Madagascar  rice  came,  and 
in  after  years,  the  golden  seed.  Something  as  good  or  better  will  be 
bound  to  reward  the  search. 

COTTON. 

The  cotton  crop  of  North  Carolina  bears  important  relation  to  the 
aggregate  crop  of  the  whole  South,  the  moie  remarkable  because  her 
position  as  a  cotton  State  has  been  somewhat  reluctantly  yielded  by  the 
more  Southern  States,  because,  perhaps,  cotton  has  been  with  most  of 
them  almost  the  sole  great  staple,  while  with  North  Carolina  it  has 
been  only  a  valuable  incident,  confirming  what  has  been  previously 
stated  about  the  diversity  and  magnitude  of  the  agricultural  operations 
of  the  State.  The  fact  that  the  different  parts  of  the  Sta'e  were  unable 
to  apply  themselves  to  the  profitable  crops,  not  all  of  them,  before  the 
war,  chiefly  dependent  upon  slave  labor,  and  also  the  relatively  high 
latitude,  both  prima  facie,  gave  the  State,  in  comparison  with  the  exclu- 
sively cotton  States,  inferior  importance.  Yet,  very  slight  investigation 
shows  that  while  North  Carolina  was  a  large  tobacco  growing  State,  a 
wheat  growing  State,  a  corn  growing  State,  a  gra's  growing  State,  a 
cattle  raising  State,  a  hog  raising  State,  with  all  of  which  out  of  her 
surplus  she  aided  in  supplying  the  necessities  of  others,  and  also  a  rice 
growing  State,  in  which  almost  alone  she  encountered  the  competition 
of  two  of  her  cotton  growing  sisters,  her  contribution  to  the  general 
cotton  supply  was  always  relatively  great;  relatively,  because  the  cul- 
ture of  the  plant  was  spread  over  a  wide  extent  of  her  counties,  with 


218  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

wide  areas  of  farms  interposed  between  them  devoted  to  other  crops 
and  cultivated  by  different  labor. 

No  St:\te  could  claim  pre-eminence  as  a  cotton  State  before  the  intro- 
duction of  the  spinning  machines  of  Ilargreaves  and  Arkwright,  Mbich 
made  possible  the  ra[)id  process  of  manufacture  needed  to  supply  rap- 
idly growing  wants;  or  before  the  invention  of  Whitney's  cotton  gin, 
which  made  also  possible  full  supplies  of  the  cotton  wool  prepared  for 
the  loom.  No  State  could  be  a  cotton  State  when  the  cotton  plant  was  cul- 
tivated in  little  patches,  and  when  the  staple  was  picked  out  by  the  nim- 
ble fingers  of  the  females  of  the  family  gathered  in  the  evening  around 
the  "light- wood  knot"  fire,  wdien  the  out-door  duties  of  the  farm  were 
over.  And  until  those  inventions  the  lands  that  now  form  the  cotton 
States  had  had  no  impulse  to  bring  them  out  of  the  wilderness,  because 
there  was  then  no  known  crop  that  would  compen-^ate  by  its  profits  for 
the  costs,  the  toils  and  the  perils  of  converting  the  boundless  forests 
into  the  subsequently  equally  boundless  cotton  fields.  The  two  inven- 
tions in  a  very  brief  time  changed  all  this,  and  the  cotton  States,  made 
so  by  their  marvellous  adaptation  by  soil  and  climate,  came  into  exist- 
ence, most  potent  factors  in  shaping  the  great  destiny  of  the  United 
States. 

Bv  way  of  contrast,  look  back  at  the  status  of  cr)tton  before  and  sub- 
sequent to  the  inventions  of  Ilargreaves  and  Arkwright,  and  of  Whit- 
ney. The  spinning  machine  was  invented,  or  applied,  in  1786;  the 
gin  in  1793.  To  go  back  some  3''ears  before  these  inventions:  in  1770 
three  bales  of  cotton  were  shipped  from  New  York,  ten  bales  from 
Charleston,  four  bales  from  Virginia  and  Maryland,  and  three  barrels- 
full  (I)  from  North  Carolina.  In  1793,  the  year  of  the  invention  of 
the  cotton  gin,  the  total  shipments  from  the  United  States  were  487,000 
pounds;  in  1803,  ten  years  later,  they  had  increased  to  41,105,023. 

There  was  no  systematic  attempt  at  crop  reporting  until  1825,  when 
the  crop  of  the  previous  year  was  first  ascertained  by  the  methods  now, 
in  the  main,  pursued;  consequently,  there  is  no  accurate  knowledge  of 
whi^it  was  done  previous  to  that  time.  As  a  curious  fact,  it  may  be 
stated  that  the  cotton-press  had  not  come  into  use,  and  that  until  a 
comparatively  recent  time  the  loose  cotton  was  thrown  into  a  long  bag 
closed  at  one  end,  and  compressed  into  smaller  compass  by  men  or 
boys  placed  in  the  bag  and  stamping  upon  it  until  there  was  a  weight 
of  about  250  pounds  attained ;  the  mouth  of  the  bag,  whose  whole 
length  was  about  twelve  feet,  was  then  sewed  up,  and  around  each 
corner  was  passed  a  strong  cord,  which  inclosed  some  of  the  cotton  and 
formed  four  knobs  by  which  the  unwieldy  mass  was  more  conveniently 
liandled.  The  returns  made  in  1825  for  the  crop  of  1824  showed  that 
North  Carolina  had  been  doing  something — 40,000  bales  as  compared 
with  134.518  for  South  Carolina  for  the  same  year;  and  for  1825  and 
1820,  72,000  and  88,480  respectively  for  North  Carolina,  and  07,000  and 
111,978  for  the  other;  a  continual  gain  for  the  one,  a  steady  los.s — at 
that  period — for  the  other. 

Subsequently,  after  182(),  the  returns  were  made  on  the  basis  of  ship- 
ments from  tlie  ports,  one  port  in  each  State  being  selected  as  the  typi- 
cal p^rt  of  such  State.     Wilmington  speaks  for  North  Corolina,  and  jfor 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  219 

many  years,  with  commendable  strength  of  voice,  though  it  must  be 
admitted  with  steadily  diminishing  volume.  Thus  in  1826-7  112,811 
bales  were  exported  fiom  that  port.  In  1830  the  exports  had  fallen  to 
36,540,  and  in  1846-7  as  low  as  6,061  bales.  This  was  not  because  of 
the  decrease  of  production  in  North  Carolina,  but  because  new  avenues 
of  transportation  had  been  provided.  The  consiruction  of  certain  rail- 
roads had  borne  to  Charleston  much  of  what  had  been  formerly  taken 
to  Wilmington,  and  other  roads  had  created  over-land  transportation 
by  which  much  of  North  Carolina  cotton  was  taken  direct  to  Northern 
ports  or  those  of  Virginia.  The  shipments  from  AVilmington  were  made 
in  small  coasting  sailing  vessels,  and  there  was  no  foreign  export  what- 
ever. In  later  years  the  extension  of  railroads  as  competitors  with  the 
cotton  bearing  lines,  the  erection  of  cotton  compresses,  the  deepening 
of  the  water  on  the  bar,  and  the  marked  increase  of  the  depth  of  water, 
permitting  the  admission  of  large  steamships  to  the  wharves  of  the  city, 
has  not  only  restored  its  busines?,  but  increased  it.  The  receipts  for 
the  season  of  1890-1  were  187,000  bales,  three-fourths  of  which  were 
shipped  to  Europe  in  steamships,  and  for  the  season  of  1891-2,  the 
receipts  have  reached  160,000  bales. 

The  quality  of  the  North  Carolina  cotton  is  as  good  as  that  of  any  of 
the  cotton  States  where  upland  cotton  is  produced — in  some  counties, 
better.  The  crop  of  Orange  County  has  never  been  a  large  one,  even 
before  the  detachment  from  it  of  Durham  ('ounty,  rarely  exceeding 
3,000  bales  annually.  Yet  its  superiority,  which  is  still  maintained, 
was  recognized  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago;  and  it  brought  in  the 
market  half  a  cent  more  in  the  pound  than  corresponding  grades  from 
elsewhere.  The  same  superiority  was  recognized  in  the  county  of 
Anson,  where  the  crop  has  long  been  a  relatively  large  one— from 
10,000  to  15,000  annual'y;  and  ''Anson  creams"  are  still  in  large 
demand  in  the  Liverpool  market  at  advanced  prices.  It  is  another 
feature  in  the  North  Carolina  cotton  culture  that  less  acreage  is  occu- 
pied in  this  State  to  the  production  of  a  bale  of  cotton  than  in  the  appa- 
rently more  favored  States  south  of  it.  In  1889-90,  the  yield  was  0.44 
of  a  bale  to  the  acre,  or  2.29  acres  to  the  bale;  in  South  Carolina,  the 
same  season,  it  was  0  38  of  a  bale  to  the  acre,  or  2.66  acres  to  the  bale. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  how  large  a  number  of  the  counties  in  the 
State  engage  in  the  cotton  culture,  some  of  them,  it  is  true,  on  a  very 
diminutive  scale.  There  are  ninety-six  counties  in  the  State;  of  these 
all  except  the  four  mountain  counties,  Cherokee,  Jackson,  Madison  and 
Mitchell,  the  middle  counties  of  Person,  Rockingham  and  Surry,  and 
the  coast  county  of  Dare,  are  cotton  producers,  some  on  a  very  small 
scale,  from  one  to  five  bales.  The  largest  producer  in  the  crop  of  1889, 
as  set  forth  in  the  Census  Report  for  1890,  was  Mecklenburg  with  a  crop 
of  22,709  bales,  followed  by  Wake  with  19,392.  The  smallest  crop  was 
produced  in  Forsyth,  Stokes  and  Watauga,  each  with  one  bale,  and 
Caswell  with  two.  The  transmontane  counties,  usually  regarded 
beyond  the  yjale  of  the  cotton  belt,  produced.  Buncombe,  five  bales; 
Haywood,  eight;  Henderson,  nineteen  ;  Yancey,  five.  Clay,  Graham, 
Macon  and  1'ransylvania  are  omitted  in  the  tabulation.  Their  produc- 
tion, if  any,  was  small. 


220  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


THE  CROP  OF  1889. 

The  Census  Bureau  issues  the  following  statement  of  the  crop  of 

1889,  which  establishes  the  crop  for  that  year  at  336,245  bales,  on  an 
acreage  of  1.147,20(j.     In  1879  the  crop  was  389,588,  on  an  acreage  of 

898,158 — a  decrease  in  the  production  of  the  last  crop  of  53,353  bales, 
on  an  increase  of  acreage  of  254,051,  due  to  unfavorable  weather 
conditions: 

Counties.  Acres.  Bales. 

Alamance 614  210 

Alexander 1.071  268 

Anson 42.431  10.822 

Beaufort 15.887  5,056 

Bertie J 21,561  5.512 

Bladen 7, 292  2,23 1 

Brunswick 1 ,049  382 

Buncombe 12  5 

Burke 62  28 

Cabarrus  .   21.294  7.102 

Caldwell 160  38 

Camden.. 4.155  1.240 

Carteret , 2.600  690 

Caswell 4  2 

Catawba 9,147  2,412 

Chatham. 18,518  5.062 

Chowan 6,282  2,368 

Cleveland 28,230  10,215 

Columbus 7,656  2,340 

Craven 11,059  2.619 

Cumberland 17.243  5.248 

Currituck 1 ,  183  377 

Davidson • 2. 371  756 

Davie 2.061  415 

Duplin 10,280  2.813 

Durliam 4,059  1,009 

Edgecombe 53,453  13,483 

Forsvth 1  1 

Franklin -. 32,757  8.443 

Gaston ' 18.033  6,620 

Gates 8,601  2.216 

Granville 2,803  982 

Greene 22. 1 33  7. 388 

Guilford 428  135 

Halifax 45,567  8.485 

Harnett 15,191  4.326 

Havwood 31  8 

Henderson 26  19 

Hertford 15,059  5,185 

Hvde 1,461  369 

Iredell 17,849  4,863 

John.ston 45,101  13,964 

Jones   1 2,462  2,96s 

Lenoir 23,770  5,936 

Lincoln 11,344  3,584 

M«D<)well 22  6 

Martin 20,275  5.048 

Mecklenlmrg 61.808  22.709 

Montgomery 7.3 1 1  1 ,467 

Moore ". 11,534  2,998 

Nash 81 .402  8.57 1 


AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  221 

Counties.  Acres,  Bales. 

New  Hanover 91  22 

Northampton 33,792  6.5S7 

Onslow 6.127  1.720 

Orange - -.. 3,729  1.034 

Pamlico - 5.722  1 .654 

Pasquotank 4.299  1.150 

Pender 2. 026  567 

Perquimans 7,569  2.236 

Pitt - 39.369  12.493 

Polk 2,013  567 

Randolph 2.101  628 

Richmond 44.298  17.943 

Robeson 45.393  16,204 

Rowan 16.228  3.688 

Rutherford. 11.864  3.688 

Sampson.. 19.123  5.290 

Stanlv 11,296  2,457 

Surrv... 2  1 

Tyrrell 2,709  450 

Union 36,838  8.889 

Vance 6,787  1.331 

Wake 56.962  19.382 

Warren 19.963  3.319 

Washington. 6,918  1,811 

Watauga 5  1 

Wavne.. ...  35,951  12,394 

Willies 21  16 

Wilson 33.285  11,129 

Yadkin 22  5 

Total 1 ,147.209        336.249 

Jackson  County  is  elsewhere  unofficially  credited  with  the  product 
of  three  bales  of  cotton  on  four  acres  of  ground.  Part  of  its  territory 
is  south  of  the  mountains,  and  part  of  it  is  as  well  adapted  to  cotton 
as  the  adjacent  lands  of  South  Carolina. 

PEANUTS. 

Mankind  is  influenced  very  often  by  very  trivial  causes,  and  human 
affairs  shaped  or  modified  by  very  insignificant  agencies.  It  is  not 
always  the  important  that  has  deepest  impression  or  control.  AVith  the 
gravest  concerns  is  intermingled  the  warp  of  the  most  insignificant 
material,  as  well  sustains  the  axiom  that  it  is  but  a  step  from  the  sub- 
lime to  the  ridiculous,  from  the  grave  to  the  gay,  from  tragedy  to  side- 
splitting comedy.  The  part  played  by  the  peanut  in  statesmanship, 
and  in  the  many  phases  of  the  drama,  is  undeniable  in  its  importance, 
yet  ludicrous  in  its  application.  Yet  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  or  of 
States,  would  lose  half  their  intensity  of  interest  if  the  fervors  of 
thought  and  the  fires  of  eloquence  were  not  fed  by  the  constant  crack- 
ling of  peanut  shells  and  the  steady  mastication  of  the  liberated  nut; 
and  in  the  histrionic  w^orld  tragedy  would  lose  half  its  poignancy,  and 
comedy  half  its  zest,  but  for  the  constant  accompaniment  of  the  same 
providential  stimulus.  The  peanut  is  now  accepted  as  the  national 
nut,  indispensable  to  the  working  of  the  legislative  brain,  ecpially  so 
as  proper  elaborator  of  theatrical  humor  and  appreciation. 

North  Carolina  had  the  honor  of  directly  introducing  this  priceless 


222  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

boon,  directly  in  connection  with  the  introduction  of  the  African  slave, 
very  far  removed  from  estimation  as  a  boon.  Bat  the  two  came  in 
together,  the  negro  captive  bringing  along  with  him  in  the  earlier  days 
of  the  slave  trade,  before  the  sense  of  outraged  humanity  had  enforced 
the  horrors  of  the  dreadful  "  middle  passage,"  when  the  slave  was 
transported  as  a  passenger,  with  all  the  liberties  of  one,  and  before  he 
was  driven  under  hatches  to  conceal  his  presence  as  a  contraband  ; 
bringing  with  him,  among  his  household  gods,  his  bene,  his  okra,  and 
his  peanuts,  all  indigenous  African  products.  On  the  Carolina  coast, 
both  of  the  North  and  South  States,  these  plants  thrive  with  the  luxu- 
riance with  which  they  flourished  in  their  native  soil  and  under  their 
native  sun;  and  long  time  ago,  in  both  South  and  North  Carolina,  all 
these  plants  entered  into  the  daily  use  of  whites  and  negroes,  and,  for 
many  years,  without  adoption  by  the  other  colonies.  The  bene  plant 
has  gone  little  outside  of  South  Carolina;  only  of  late  years  has  the 
okra  become  of  wider  use,  and  even  now  not  a  univ^ersal  favorite,  or 
its  uses  well  understood  ;  and  the  peanut  was  slow  in  making  national* 
fame,  and  becoming  conspicuous  in  legislative  halls  or  in  the  galleries 
of  theatres.  Perhaps  it  is  not  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century 
ao"0  that  it  burst  its  provincial  bounds  and  went  forth  conquering  and 
to  conquer. 

Arachis  lii/pogcea,  the  botanical  litle,  has  many  local  names,  ground 
pea,  ground  nut,  peanut,  pindar,  goober,  but  is  recognized  and  wel- 
comed by  any  one  of  these  names;  for  under  whatever  disguise,  there 
is  no  concealment  of  its  merits.  The  most  extensive  cultivation  for 
purposes  of  export  was  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  between  the 
South  Carolina  line  and  Beaufort;  and  the  most  eligible  soil  was  found 
upon  the  immediate  coast  in  Onslow  County,  where  the  sandy  loam  of 
the  soil  has  a  large  natural  admixture  of  shell  lime,  and  this  section 
continues  to  be,  in  this  State,  the  largest  source  of  supply.  The  average 
vield  is  about  thirty  bushels  to  the  acre,  with  an  annual  production  of 
from  125,000  to  150,000  bushels,  with  a  value  of  $1.25,  or  less,  per 
bushel;  for  increasing  production  elsewhere  has  bad  the  usual  effect  of 
lowering  values.  At  one  time  North  Carolina  had  almost  the  monopoly 
of  the  domestic  supply;  but  Tennessee  and  Virginia,  especially  the  lat- 
ter, now  raise  crops  far  in  excess  of  those  of  North  Carolina. 

Wilmington  is  the  chief  market  in  this  State  for  the  home  ciop.  In 
recent  years  machinery  has  been  devised  to  separate  the  nuts  fiom  the 
tangle  of  roots  and  vines  which  once  offered  .serious  impediments  to  the 
enlargement  of  the  crop;  but  little  trouble  now  exists  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  crop  for  ma-ket. 

Apart  from  its  value  as  an  edible  nut,  the  peanut  has  high  value  as 
an  oil  jiroducer.  As  an  ilkiminator  it  has  liigh  value;  as  a  lubricator 
it  }>roves  an  excellent  substituie  for  machine  oil,  hav.ng  very  little 
tendency  to  gum,  and  as  a  table  oil  it  is  so  little  inferior  to  olive 
oil  that  thousands  of  gallons  of  peanut  oil  have  gone  1o  Italy  and 
made  a  return  voyage  to  the  United  States  to  be  welcomed  by  epicures 
and  connois-eurs  as  the  "  right  Florence."  The  oil  cake  is  ol  the  high- 
est value  for  stock,  and  the  plant  has  so  many  merits  that  its  culture 
demands  much  wider  extension. 


THE    PORTS    AND    FIAKHORS    OF    NORTH    OAUOMNA.  223 

THE   PORTS  AND   HARBORS  OF  NORTH 

CAROLINA. 

Along  the  coast  of  this  State,  extending  from  Back  Bay,  within  tlie 
Virginia  boundary,  nearly  to  the  South  Carolina  line,  is  a  series  of 
narrow  barriers  of  land,  interspersed  with  marshy,  rush-covered  flats, 
which  seem  to  have  been  purposely  interposed  by  nature  between  the 
tumultuous  outside  ocean  and  the  placid  expanses  of  water  lying 
within ;  inland  seas,  with  all  the  repose  and  safety  of  interior  lakes,  yet 
with  some  of  the  features  of  the  outside  coast  lines,  inasmuch  as  the 
eye  sweeps  sometimes  over  a  boundless  stretch  of  waters,  enlivened 
with  all  the  animation  of  the  maritime  landscape,  the  full-spread  sails 
of  the  merchantman,  the  white  wings  of  the  fishing  craft,  or  the  trail- 
ing smoke  of  the  swift  flying  steamer,  until  it  rests  far  away  upon  the 
sandy  beach  and  the  thin  fringe  of  shrubbery  that  forms  the  back- 
ground. These  inland  waters,  the  Sounds,  as  they  are  known,  are  in 
themselves  so  smooth  as  to  constitute  safe  harbors  from  the  perils  of  the 
ocean,  deep  and  navigable,  but  interrupted  by  shoals  and  bars,  which 
effectually  forbid  within  them  the  existence  of  commercial  ports 
available  for  the  purposes  of  distant  commerce,  but  in  the  deep  bays 
and  estuaries  providing  ports  for  the  vessels  engaged  in  the  coasting 
trade,  a  class  of  shipping  at  one  time  also  having  a  large  West  India 
trade. 

But,  important  as  these  inside  bays  and  ports  are  and  always  will 
be,  their  importance  must  always  be  controlled  by  the  access  to  them 
from  the  open  sea,  and  which  is  imperatively  dominated  by  the  location 
and  permanency  of  the  inlets,  and  the  depth  of  water  upon  their  bars. 

In'the  history  of  our  coast  there  is  nothing  that  presents  itself  as  so 
unstable  and  capricious  as  these  inlets,  almost  literally  here  to-da}', 
there  to-morrow.  Once  there  were  inlets  into  Currituck  Sound,  with 
good  depth  of  water;  now  there  are  none — one  closed  in  1775,  one  in 
1828.  Opposite  the  eastern  opening  of  Albemarle  Sound  was  once  an 
inlet;  now  occupied  by  dangerous  Kitty  Hawk  and  the  fatal  Killawil 
dunes.  A  little  farther  south,  opposite  Roanoke  Island,  was  once  the 
deep  inlet  of  Nag's  Head,  through  which  the  earliest  English  adven- 
turers made  their  entrance  and  found  a  convenient  landing-j)lace  on 
the  shores  of  the  famous  island.  That  inlet  has  long  been  closed,  and 
on  the  solid  land  which  now  fills  its  channel  stands  the  hotel  which 
forms  the  noted  summer  resort  of  "Nag's  Head."  Opposite  the  lower 
end  of  Roanoke  Island  opens  Oregon  Inlet,  which  for  many  years  has 
provided  safe  entrance  for  vessels  drawing  ten  to  twelve  feet  of  water 
into  the  waters  of  the  sound.  Thence  down  the  coast,  through  the  very 
thin  line  of  "banks,"  are  two  or  three  unsteady,  unsafe  entrances, 
opening  and  closing  at  the  will  of  the  outside  waters.  Passing  down 
the  coast  opens  Hatteras  Inlet,  not  far  from  the  cape  of  that  name; 
and  this,  with  Currituck  Inlet,  forms  the  usual  most  reliable  access  to 
the  inland  waters  of  the  great  sounds,  Pamlico  and  Albemarle. 


224  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 

Along  the.se  sounds,  at  various  points  deep  and  broad  estuaries  extend 
back  to  the  mouths  of  hirge  rivers,  the  Chowan,  the  Roanoke,  the  Tar, 
the  Neuse,  together  with  such  streams  as  the  Pasquotank,  which  in  its 
relation  to  the  artificial  channel  of  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal,  has  given 
existence  to  one  of  the  most  thriving  of  these  inland  ports — Elizabeth 
City.  Thus  along  these  inland  waters  have  grown  up  ports  of  impor- 
tance, to  be  estimated  more  by  their  value  in  relation  to  domestic  trade 
than  to  foreign  commerce;  for  Washington  and  Newbern,  both  possess- 
ing fine  harbors  and  easy  access,  are  controlled  by  the  limitations 
imposed  by  the  depth  of  water  in  the  inlets  or  on  the  shoals  within  the 
channels,  so  that  the  foreign  trade  once  enjoyed  by  them,  and  carried 
on  in  a  smaller  class  of  vessels  than  now  regarded  as  profitably  adapted 
to  foreign  trade,  is  now  practically  suspended.  But  in  their  interior 
operations  they  are  ports  with  a  magnitude  of  business  that  emphasizes 
the  prosperity  of  the  sections  of  country  tributary  to  them,  and  the 
waters  of  the  sounds  are  enlivened  with  fleets  bearing  away  the  limit- 
less variety  of  contributions  to  American  commercial  prosperity — cotton, 
lumber,  shingles,  naval  stores,  corn,  the  products  of  truck  farming,  etc. 

Just  under  Cape  Lookout  opens,  between  Core  and  Bogue  Sounds, 
and  at  the  mouth  of  Newport  River,  the  inlet  which  lets  into  Beaufort 
harbor.  This  is  entered  over  a  bar  giving  more  water  than  any  harbor 
on  the  coast,  surpassed  only  by  the  entrance  into  the  Chesapeake,  and 
Port  Royal  liarbor,  in  South  Carolina.  Vessels  drawing  twenty-three 
feet  enter  readily  from  the  sea,  and,  in  twenty  minutes,  are  lying  snugly 
at  their  anchorage  or  at  their  wharves.  It  is  entered  at  all  times,  except 
against  a  north  or  north-west  wind.  It  is  a  harbor  of  refuge  in  time  of 
storm,  from  the  enemy  in  time  of  war,  a  rendezvous  chosen  as  the  basis 
of  naval  operations,  as,  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  when  the 
fleet  destined  for  the  attack  on  Charleston  first  concentrated  here;  when, 
in  the  war  of  1812,  captured  prizes  were  brought  in  here  for  adjudica- 
tion, and  when,  in  the  late  war,  the  harbor  was  filled  with  the  war  ves- 
sels and  transports  of  the  Federal  Government.  The  water  within  the 
harbor  is  suflicicnt  for  the  largest  merchant  vessels,  yet  it  is  not  a  com- 
mercial [)ort  of  value,  for  the  reason  that  no  great  navigable  stream 
brings  to  it  the  riches  of  the  interior,  and  because  the  single  line  of 
railroad  which  reaches  it  has  not  yet  been  able  to  divert  the  current  of 
trallic  from  its  accustomed  channel. 

Down  the  coast  below  Beaufort,  several  inlets  open  into  the  sounds 
at  tiie  mouths  of  tide-water  rivers,  such  as  White  Oak  and  New  River. 
But  the  water  on  their  bars  is  shallow,  and  these  bars  so  shifting  as  to 
forbid  the  expectation  that  they  will  ever  add  to  the  number,  value  or 
fame  of  our  ports  and  harbors. 

Between  the  island  known  as  Smith's  Island,  at  the  southern  extremity 
of  which  is  the  dreaded  Cape  Fear,  the  "proinontoriinn  iremendnm"  of 
Del>ry's  map,  and  the  main  land  on  the  west,  pours  in  the  Cape  Fear 
River,  the  only  large  river  in  the  State — the  only  one,  in  fact,  between 
the  Hudson  and  the  Savannah  that  makes  directly  into  the  ocean,  for, 
before  reaching  it,  all  the  others  are  swallowed  in  long  and  wide  bays, 
estuaries  or  sounds.     The  Cape  Fear,  with  its  tributaries,  drains  an  area 


SUB-TROPICAL  FLORA,  EASTERN   N.  C, 


THE    PORTS    AND    HARBORS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  225 

of  between  6,000  and  8,000  square  miles  of  territory,  and  pours  out  a 
heavy  volume  into  the  sea.  Here  might  be  expected  a  harbor  of  easy 
entrance  and  ample  capacity.  Therefure  we  find  a  New  England  colony 
of  adventurers  seeking  settlement  and  homes  within  its  shelter  in  1660, 
followed  by  a  colony  from  Barbadoes  in  1662-'63,  and  thenceforward 
continued  occupation,  founding  of  towns,  opening  up  of  plantations, 
enlargement  of  population  and  increase  of  wealth  up  to  the  present 
day.  In  early  times  the  class  of  merchant  vessels,  or  even  of  war  ves- 
sels, was  small  and  draft  light,  so  that  the  question  of  depth  of  water 
on  the  bar  and  in  the  inner  channels  never  seemed  to  have  been  pre- 
sented. In  all  probability  there  never  was  occasion  for  it,  for  there  was 
but  a  single  entrance — that  between  Smith's  and  Oak  Islands,  and  that 
secured  sufficient  water  for  all  vessels  using  the  harbor.  But  in  1761 
a  long-continued  tempest  cut  through  the  banks  between  Smith's  Island 
and  what  was  long  afterwards  known  as  Federal  Point,  forming,  until 
recently  closed,  what  was  known  as  New  Inlet.  The  waters  turned  into 
this  new  chbunel  in  time  attained  a  depth  of  water  equal  to  that  on 
the  old  or  main  bar,  and  eventually  reduced  the  depth  of  water  on 
that,  in  1839,  to  about  nine  feet  at  low  water,  the  New  Inlet  bar  at  the 
same  time  showing  ten  feet,  and  becoming  the  channel  through  which 
most  of  the  coasting  trade  was  conducted.  This  reduction  in  depth 
involved  diminution  in  trade,  and  Wilmington  was  seriously  menaced 
with  the  loss  of  its  most  valuable  commerce.  Therefore  the  State  of 
North  Carolina  began  the  work  of  relief,  continuing  it  from  1823  to 
1828,  when  the  General  Government  very  properly  assumed  the  duty 
and  the  cost.  The  operations  for  many  years  consisted  of  efforts  to 
deepen  and  clear  the  channel  of  the  river  for  some  miles  down  by 
dredging,  but  chiefly  by  the  construction  of  jetties,  and  after  some  year 
labor  and  a  large  expenditure  of  money,  a  gain  of  two  or  more  feet  in 
depth  was  effected.  The  work  was  suspended,  and  resumed  in  1852, 
and  directed  to  attempts  to  close  the  New  Inlet  by  closing  the  entrance 
between  Smith's  and  Zeke's  Islands,  and  fair  progress  was  made,  when, 
in  September,  1857,  a  great  storm  swept  away  nearly  all  that  had  been 
accomplished,  and  efforts  were  abandoned  until  1870,  when  they  were 
resumed  with  determined  purpose  and  with  large  approj)riations.  This 
has  been  done  until  the  breach  between  Smith's  and  Zeke's  Islands  was 
closed,  and  eventually  the  flow  through  New  Inlet  finally  checked.  This 
is  not  the  place  for  the  details  of  this  important  work,  the  present  object 
being  only  to  show  by  what  methods  the  usefulness  of  the  Cape  Fear 
River,  in  its  relation  to  material  and  domestic  commerce,  has  been 
restored.  This  has  been  done  by  the  erection  of  a  solid  dam  more  than 
a  mile  in  length  and  with  a  breadth  of  from  90  to  125  feet,  knit  together 
by  natural  grass  and  oyster  shells,  until  it  is  apparentl}--  impregnable  to 
the  assaults  of  the  fiercest  tempests.  The  effect  on  the  depth  of  water 
on  the  main  bar  was  not  at  once  appreciable;  but  in  two  or  three  years, 
and  assisted  by  the  process  of  suction  dredges,  a  great  gain  has  been 
made,  so  that  whereas  in  1878,  when  the  shortest  soundings  in  the 
Bald  Head  Channel  were  nine  feet,  in  1882  they  were  fourteen  feet,  and 
now,  in  1892,  there  is  seventeen  to  eighteen  feet  at  low  water,  which, 
15 


226  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

with  an  average  rise  of  the  tide  of  four  and  a  half  feet,  gives  a  depth  of 
from  twenty-one  and  a  half  to  twenty-two  and  a  half  feet.  Last  year 
a  vessel  drawing  twenty-one  and  a  half  feet,  coming  in  and  going  out, 
went  over  easily.  In  extraordinary  spring  tides  lliere  is  a  depth  of 
twenty-four  feet.  The  Government  is  now  at  work  with  purpose  to 
deepen  the  water  on  the  bar  to  Iwenty-six  feet,  or  thirty,  which  is 
thought  to  be  practicable.  Doing  this,  a  safe  and  deep  harbor  is  found 
inside  at  Southport  and  thence  up  to  Wilmington,  with  the  gains  already 
made,  in  a  channel  which  affords,  up  to  the  wharves,  a  depth  of  from 
sixteen  to  twenty  feet. 

Tiie  importance  of  these  improvements  are  ah-eady  recognized 
nationally  and  in  their  relation  to  the  business  of  Wilmington.  The 
customs  receipts  have  quadrupled;  and  as  vessels  of  large  tonnage  can 
now  cross  the  bar  and  come  up  to  the  cit}'  wharves  for  freight,  the  cot- 
ton receipts  of  the  port  have  mounted  up  annuall}^  to  nearly  two  hun- 
dred thousand  bales,  and  they  find  shipment  in  a  class  of  vessels  which 
had  never  entered  the  port  until  the  improvements  in  the  channel  were 
made — the  freight  steamships  of  from  1,200  to  1,.S00  tons  burden. 

The  improvements  which  affect  beneficially  both  Wilmington  and 
Southport  are  none  the  less  important  to  the  latter  than  to  the  former. 
Southport  has  a  capacious  land-locked  harbor,  of  great  depth  and  free 
from  dangerous  shoals,  and  it  becomes  a  safe  harbor  of  refuge  during 
storms,  and  in  cases  of  disablement  of  vessels  at  sea  by  storm  or  other 
accident;  and  the  benefits  already  accrued  are  ample  compensation  for 
the  cost  of  the  various  work.  The  increased  acce.ssibility  of  the  harbor 
also  gives  it  great  value  as  a  coaling  station,  lying  in  the  path  of  an 
enormous  coasting  and  Gulf  trade,  and  the  first  poi't  that  can  be  reached 
by  vessels  bound  north  who  find  themselves  short  of  supplies.  The 
coal  will  be  largely  supplied  l)y  the  North  Carolina  mines. 

Wilmington,  or  the  Cape  Fear  River  harbor,  during  the  late  war 
illustrated  some  peculiar  features  of  value.  With  its  ease  of  access  it 
was  also  readily  defensible.  One  of  its  fortifications  successfully  repelled 
the  first  assaults  of  one  of  the  largest  and  strongest  squadrons  and  the 
fiercest  and  most  terrible  bombardments  known  in  naval  annals.  It 
did  indeed  succumb  in  the  second  and  more  formidable  attempt;  but 
not  until  after  three  or  more  years  of  ctlbrt  to  caj)ture  or  to  close  the 
port  were  the  blockading  vessels,  which  alone  kept  the  Southern  States 
in  communication  with  the  outer  world  and  kept  up  some  semblance 
of  trade,  effectually  excluded.  It  is  stated  that  the  number  of  block- 
aders,  as  they  were  called,  those  that  ran  the  gauntlet  and  got  in  safely 
with  their  cargof  s,  was,  from  May  20, 1863,  to  December  31, 1864,  about 
260;  prior  to  May  20,  1863,  15;  and  after  December  31,  1864,  10, 
making  a  total  of  285. 

South,  or  rather  west,  running  down  the  coast  which  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Cape  Fear  makes  a  course  at  right  angles  with  its  former  direc- 
tion, there  are  only  two  harbors,  both  of  minor  im{)ortance — Lockwood's 
Folly  and  Shallotte— with  capacious  and  safe  anchorage  inside,  but 
with  little  more  than  five  feet  water  on  the  bar. 


THE    PORTS    AND    HARBORS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  227 

The  following  is  of  interest  in  a  material  point  of  view:  "In  1875  a 
charter  was  granted  by  our  State  Legislature  for  a  canal  from  the  South 
Carolina  line  to  A^irginia  with  a  view  of  avoiding  the  perils  of  the  out- 
side voyage  past  the  dangerous  capes  on  the  coast.  A  survey  was  made 
by  the  United  States  Government  during  the  same  year,  and  the  scheme 
was  reported  to  be  practicable,  and  that  by  utilizing  forty-seven  miles 
of  the  navigable  north  east  branch  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  and  other 
intermediate  streams  it  would  only  require  about  forty  miles  of  canal 
to  connect  Wilmington  with  Pamlico  Sound  and  all  the  other  inland 
water  system  of  North  Carolina,  the  Neuse,  Tar,  Roanoke  and  Chowan 
Rivers  and  the  Pamlico  and  Albemarle  Sounds  into  which  they  flow, 
and  thence  b}'^  the  Dismal  Sivamp  Canal  and  the  Chesapeake  and 
Albemarle  Canal  with  the  waters  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  ultimately 
by  natural  and  artific  al  water-ways  already  in  use  to  make  connection 
Avith  the  harbor  of  New  York  by  an  altogether  inland  route.  And  it 
was  also  ascertained  that  it  only  requires  four  miles  of  canal  at  Oak 
Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and  five  miles  between 
Little  River  and  Waccamaw  River  to  connect  the  Cape  Fear,  Wacca- 
maw,  Pee  Dee  and  Smtee  Rivers,  thus  extending  the  inland  water 
route  to  Georgetown,  Charleston  and  Savannah.'' 


225  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


TRUCK  FARMING. 

An  industry  of  so  little  consequence  in  the  past  us  to  have  received 
little  or  no  consideration  in  the  view  of  the  occupations  and  resources 
of  the  State,  has,  within  a  few  years,  grown  to  such  magnitude  as  to 
rank  among  the  foremost  as  a  money  resource,  and  to  have  solved, 
almost  at  one  happy  stroke,  the  problem  presented  to  that  impoitant 
section  of  the  State  contiguous  to  the  coast. 

There  the  soil,  the  conditions  of  locality,  and  the  habits  of  the 
people,  encouraged  neither  diversity  of  crops  nor  of  occupation.  The 
fixed  customs  of  generations  had  established  an  unbroken  routine  of 
field  crops,  of  cotton,  corn,  potatoes  and  peas,  the  first  onlv  to  be 
depended  on  as  a  money  crop;  outside  of  the  field,  the  forest  crops  of 
timber,  lumber  and  naval  stores;  and  at  a  special  and  limited  period 
of  the  year  the  products  of  the  fish'eries,  which,  while  they  brought 
food  to  many,  brought  money  to  few.  The  production  of  cotton  was 
in  excess  of  profitable  demand,  and  the  conditions  of  its  cultivation 
more  often  wrought  loss  than  profit.  The  forests  were  being  exhausted, 
reducing  the  area  of  work  and  the  abundance  of  supply ;  in  large  sections 
the  abandonment  of  the  industries  connected  with  it,  or  their  restriction 
to  very  narrow  limits;  and  gloom  and  despondency  unavoidably  settled 
heavily  upon  the  faces  of  those  who  looked  into  the  darkening  vista  of 
the  future. 

The  skies  were  suddenly,  unexpectedly  and  most  effectually  ch.ared; 
hope  cheered  awakened  eHbrt;  lands  of  hitherto  despised  consideration 
suddenly  assumed  an  almost  priceless  value;  the  'Tittle  things"  that 
the  cotton  planter  had  counted  with  contempt  sprung  to  the  head  and 
ranked  as  leaders;  restless  industry  and  exhaustless  energy  brushed 
aside  listless  indolence  and  hopeless  despondence,  and  great  sections  at 
once  put  on  new  life  and  gloried  in  the  sunshine  of  a  more  than  restored 
prosperity. 

Many  years  ago  the  country  around  Norfolk,  \'a.,  was  proven  to  be 
suitable  for  the  early  perfection  of  vegetables  and  small  fruits,  and 
with  existing  facilities  for  transportation  a  market  in  the  Northern  cities 
was  always  assured.  Trucking  early  became  the  important  industry 
of  that  section.  When  attention  was  directed  to  Florida,  first  as  a 
health  resort,  then  as  the  future  land  of  the  orange  and  other  fruits, 
the  increase  of  travel  and  the  necessities  of  quick  transportation 
enforced  the  introduction  of  swift  steamships  and  the  extension  of  rail- 
road lines;  and  thus  Florida  first  realized  the  advantage  she  possessed 
in  a  .semi-tropical  climate,  in  which  the  growth  of  vegetables  was 
per{)etual  except  during  the  scorching  heats  of  summer,  and  where 
vegetables  matured  at  the  very  period  when,  at  the  North,  the  tardy 
spring  was  still  held  in  the  icy  grip  of  winter,  and  when  the  products 
of  the  garden  would  be  welcomed  with  the  more  eagerness  because  of 
the  long  antecedent  deprivation  to  which  the  consumers  of  vegetables 
liad  been  subjected.     Never  was  a  greater  blessing  bestowed  upon  the 


4 


M^^^t^Mii^^i:-:^ 


/  ^^-  J  --<- 


TRL'CK    FAUN[IX(i.  229 

penaed-up  sufFeivrs  in  tlie  arid  cities  than  the  fresh,  ripened,  natural- 
flavored  gifts  of  Florida.  The  cities  were  blessed,  and  Florida  pros- 
pered. Georgia  followed  in  the  same  happy  venture,  and  so  did  South 
Carolina  with  equal  success  :  and  then  portions  of  North  Carolina  began 
to  test  the  probabilities  of  success  here.  There  was  no  reason  why  she 
should  fail.  The  soils  all  along  the  coast  were  almost  identical,  the 
localities  that  would  be  chosen  as  suitable  not  unlike  in  conditions; 
and,  because  the  warm  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream  washed  the  coasts  of 
all,  there  could  not  be  very  serious  dissimilarities  in  climate,  only,  that 
as  the  Gulf  Stream  liows  gradually  upwards  in  its  northerly  course,  so 
do  the  waves  of  temperature  progress  northwardly  in  the  same  succes- 
sive flood,  imparting  their  heats  in  progressive  fervor.  Thus,  while 
Florida  would  be  the  first  where  maturity  was  developed,  so  succes- 
sively would  Georgia,  South  Carolina  and  North  Carolina,  until  Vir- 
ginia was  reached,  make  this  welcome  vernal  offering.  And  this,  in 
the  course  of  experience,  has  proved  to  be  invariable. 

Perhaps  the  first  large  and  success-ful  tests  of  what  in  the  beginning 
were  rather  timid  trusts  in  the  value  of  theories  were  made  at  Rocky 
Point,  on  the  north-east  branch  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  in  the  present 
county  of  Pender,  by  Mr.  G.  Z.  French,  now  postmaster  at  Wilmington. 
No  injustice  is  designed,  if  he  is  named,  when  others  not  known  to  the 
writer  be  equal  pioneers  in  the  new  industry.  Success  was  attained  in 
the  very  early  production,  in  large  quantity,  of  peas,  cabbage,  beans, 
potatoes,  asparagus,  squashes,  cucumbers,  melons,  strawberries,  etc.,  and 
the  truck  farm  at  Rocky  Point  is  still  a  model  and  a  prosperous  one. 
As  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  article  to  encourage  by  example,  it  falls 
within  its  province  to  give  the  following  items  of  the  operations  of  this 
year.  Mr.  French  gives  us  the  following  items  respecting  the  operations 
of  tlie  present  season:  Tiie  farm  has  700  acres  in  truck,  of  which  there 
were  thir.y  acres  in  peas,  seven  in  Irish  potatoes,  five  in  radishes,  seven 
in  beans,  twenty  in  strawberries,  two  in  bee's,  and  the  rest  in  melons, 
cucumbers,  turnips,  field  crops,  etc 

Around  Rocky  Point  there  are  100  acres  in  strawberries.  The  Wil- 
mington Messenger  of  June  IS,  181)2,  makes  the  following  statement 
respecting  the  strawberry  crop  of  the  Cape  Fear  section: 

"Mr.  A.S.  Maynard,  representing  the  California  Fruit  Transportation 
Company,  who  has  been  here  two  weeks,  looking  after  the  shipment  of 
strawberries  in  the  patent  refrigerator  cars  of  his  company,  will  leave 
today,  as  the  season  is  about  over.  He  tell^  us  that  from  Wilmington 
and  points  on  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad  tliis  season  he  has 
handled  forty-five  cars  of  berries.  This  means  300,000  quarts  of  straw- 
berries, and  the  receipts  in  monev  to  the  growers  aggregates  the  pretty 
sum  of  $40,000." 

The  truck  crops  are  intermediate  between  those  of  Charleston  and 
Norfolk.  They  are  shipped  to  the  Northern  market  by  quick  freight 
trains 

Successful  truck  farminsf  rapidly  followed  or  accompanied  the  experi- 
ment at  Rocky  P>>int.  Truck  farms  were  established  at  Magnolia, 
Warsaw  and  Goldsboro,  on  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad,  and 


230  ITAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

to  some  extent  at  stations  on  that  road  farther  north.  At  Goldsboro 
much  attention  was  given  to  the  cultivation  of  the  strawberry.  On  the 
Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  road  much  trucking  is  done,  mostly  in  the 
least  perishable  of  early  fruits  and  vegetables — strawberries,  and  pota- 
toes, peas  and  beans.  But  tiie  centre  of  the  trucking  interest  is  around 
Newbern,  and,  as  that  may  be  considered  the  typical  illustration  of  the 
industry,  somewhat  full  details  are  not  onl}'  permissible  but  useful. 

T^he  main  trucking  area  of  the  Newbern  gardens  lies  between  the 
Neuse  and  Trent  Rivers,  and  occupies  about  8,000  acres.  The  land  is 
a  dead  level  throughout  nearly  its  whole  extent  except  on  the  farms  of 
Hackburn  &  Willett,  where  there  is  an  outcrop  of  heavy  clayey  soil, 
forming  a  broken  elongated  ridge  of  several  hundred  yards  in  length 
with  a  breadth  of  two  hundred  yards,  and  covered  with  a  heavy  growth 
of  large  oaks,  hickories,  poplars,  pines  and  other  hard-wood  trees. 
Everywhere  else  the  land  is  level,  much  of  it  originally  in  swamp,  and, 
when  dry,  with  a  soil  of  loose  sandy  loam.  Drainage  has  now  effaced 
all  traces  of  swamp  excej)t  along  the  drainage  canals  and  on  the  banks 
of  tide-water  creeks,  which  reach  back  to  considerable  extent  from  the 
rivers  on  either  side. 

The  whole  of  this  area  of  8,000  acres  now  presents  the  same  appear- 
ance, the  results  of  careful  culture,  nice  tillage  and  intelligent  farming. 
The  soil,  not  naturally  fertile,  is  readily  responsive  to  fertilizers,  and  is 
kept  up  to  a  high  standard  by  yearly  liberal  applications  of  manures, 
both  domestic  and  commercial.  The  results  are  heavy  annual  crops  of 
the  many  subjects  of  cultivation,  diminished  only  by  the  casualties  of 
untimely  late  frosts,  from  which  even  the  mild  coast  section  is  not 
altogetlier  exempt.  The  location  of  Newbern,  with  the  advantages  of 
both  swift  water  and  railroad  transportation,  admits  the  culture  of  a 
greater  variety  of  vegetables  than  is  largely  attempted  elsewhere. 

The  trucking  business  of  Newbern  is  so  great  as  to  be  a  subject  of 
State  interest,  and  a  detailed  notice  of  its  work  will  be  no  disparage- 
ment to  other  communities  engaging  in  the  same  business,  because,  in 
the  first  place,  from  Newbern  alone  were  full  statistics  attainable;  and 
again,  because  the  industry  is  pursued  to  greater  extent  there  than 
elsewhere  in  the  State;  and  again,  because  the  success  achieved  there 
will  stimulate  other  places  possessing  similar  conditions  of  soil,  locality 
and  conveniences  for  trans] )ortation. 

Of  the  season  for  1801,  Mr.  VV.  H.  Oliver  makes  the  following  state- 
ment, which  was  founded  upon  autiientic  data  at  the  close  of  that 
season : 

The  present  truck  season,  which  is  now  about  to  close,  has  been  an 
extraordinary  one.  The  quantity  of  truck  which  has  been  produced 
has  been  enormous.  In  regard  to  the  (piantity,  during  the  shipping 
season  the  railroad  and  two  steamships  have  been  taxed  to  the  utmost 
of  their  capRcity  to  move  it.  The  railroad  company  has  run  from  one 
to  three  trains  daily,  carrying  from  3,000  to  1,000  barrels  and  boxes 
each  train;  the  steamer  Neuse  has  made  three  trips  per  week  carrying 
from  4,000  to  4,500  barrels  and  boxes  each  trip;  the  steamer  Newbern 
has  made  two  trips  each  week  carrying  from  2,000  to  2,500  barrels  and 
boxes  each  trip. 


TRUCK    FARMING.  231 

The  railroad  lias  shipped  seven*y  train  loads,  say 210,000 

The  steamer  Neuse  has  taken ". 80,000 

The  steamer  Newbern  has  taken 60,000 

350,000 

boxes  and  barrel-,  consisting  of  strawberries,  asparagus,  green  peas, 
cabbages,  beans,  kale,  beets,  turnips,  Irish  potatoes,  tomatoes,  cucum- 
bers, egg  plants,  radishes,  etc. 

The  prices  realized  for  the  above  have  been  extraordinary,  and  the 
amount  realized  from  the  sales  of  them  bus  by  the  most  conservative 
estimate  reached  the  sum  of  -$750,000;  which  has  realized,  after  deduct- 
ing freight  and  expenses,  over  $500,000  to  our  farmers.  The  calcula- 
tion is  based  upon  the  following: 

There  was  shipped  at  least  100,000  barrels  of  Irish  potatoes;  some  of 
these  potatoes  sold  at  |7.00  per  barrel,  many  at  $G.OO,  a  large  quantity 
at  $5.50  per  barrel,  doubtless  lealizing  $5.00  per  barrel,  which  would 

make $500,000 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  barrels  and  boxes  of  other 

articles  as  above  at  Sl.OO  each 250,000 

$750,000 

The  largest  farms  are  conducted  by  Messrs.  Hackburn  &  AVillett, 
Jospph  Rheim,  \V.  F.  Crockett,  AV.  IT.  Gray,  Grants  et  Cromwell,  Graham 

Richardson,  Weatherly  &  Carmon,  Henry  Caleb, Hodges,  William 

Dunn,  E.  R.  Dudley,  John  S.  McGowan,  AVatson  &  Daniels,  and  Joe 
Sweet.  The  farms  of  all  these  gentlemen  are  cultivated  with  the  nicety 
of  a  garden,  with  methodical  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  and  with 
the  most  business-like  relations  to  economy  of  management. 

It  is  desirable  to  give  an  illustration  of  the  truck  business  by  some 
of  its  results.  It  is  impossible,  and  it  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this 
publication  to  go  into  specifications.  Only  one  example  is  selected, 
because  of  the  great  extent  of  the  farm  and  the  variety  of  operations 
involved  in  its  conduct. 

From  the  farm  of  Hackburn  &  \A^illett  were  sold  last  vear  9,000  bar- 
rels of  potatoes  for  $36,000;  100,000  head  of  cabbage  for  $12,500;  2,000 
bunches  spinach  for  $2,500 ;  2,000  boxes  beans,  $2,000 ;  1,000  boxes  peas, 
$1,000;  5,000  bunches  asparagus,  $16,000;  radish  crop,  $500;  beets, 
$400;  4,000  barrels  citron  melon.s,  $4,000;  tomatoes,  $1,000;  sales  of 
milk,  $4,000;  a  total  of  $65,000. 

On  the  farm  are  170  head  of  cattle  of  the  best  breeds,  66  horses  and 
139  hogs,  a  dairy,  a  saw-mill  for  the  use  of  the  box  factory,  a  fertilizer 
factory,  of  which  this  farm  uses  350  tons  of  its  own  manufacture. 

For  this  year  the  information  given  is  that  there  are  600  acres  in 
truck  and  300  in  oats  and  grass.  Of  the  vegetable  crops  were  planted 
200  acres  in  potatoes,  100  in  cabbage,  50  in  peas,  50  in  beans,  50  in 
cucumbers,  50  in  muskmelons,  10  in  radishes,  10  in  beets,  30  in  aspara- 
gus, 25  in  tomatoes,  15  in  spinach.  Seven  hundred  and  fifty  bar; els 
of  potatoes  were  planted. 


232  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 

The  crops  here  mature  fifteen  days  before  those  around  Norfolk,  and 
are  intermediate  between  those  of  that  section  and  those  of  Charleston. 

To  illustrate  the  extent  of  this  year's-  operations,  the  following  from 
a  recent  Newbern  paper  is  quoted  : 

"Great  quantities  of  truck  are  now  leaving  Newbern  and  the  country 
near.  One  day  the  Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  Railroad  carried  about 
thirty  car-loads,  and  the  s'eamer  Nevse  took  out  41,000  packages  — 
23,000  barrels  of  potatoes  and  18,000  boxes  of  beans.  Saturday  was  a 
still  greater  shi{)ping  day.  The  steamer  Enola  took  out  2,333  packages, 
and  the  railroad  had,  by  fifty  per  cent.,  the  largest  shipment  it  has  ever 
had  in  one  day  since  the  trucking  began." 

Since  railroad  connection  has  been  established  between  Washington 
and  the  main  stem  of  the  Coast  Line  system,  an  astonishing  impetus 
has  been  given  to  the  trucking  interests  of  that  town,  and  the  shipments 
this  season  of  potatoes,  cabbage,  etc.,  have  been  very  large. 

Elizabeth  Cit}'  has  long  been  a  heavy  grower  of  potatoes,  making 
two  crops  annually,  and,  in  general  trucking  systems,  adopting  the 
crops  and  methods  in  favor  around  Norfolk. 

A  business  so  new  and  already  so  extensive,  a  business  wliich  has 
found  a  value  for  lands  hitherto  unrecognized,  which  has  given  employ- 
ment where  enforced  idleness  prevailed,  which  has  brought  comfort  and 
competency  where  distress  had  long  existed,  which  has  rewarded  indus- 
try and  energy  with  ample  returns,  which  has  vivified  and  enriched  a 
sluggish  and  almost  hopeless  section,  which  has  encouraged  other  sec- 
tions to  fall  into  the  same  footsteps,  which  has  material  influence  upon 
the  Welfare  of  the  whole  State,  is,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  justification  for  the 
space  here  given  to  its  rise,  progress  and  hapj»y  results. 


srr.K.  '233 


SILK. 

This  valuable  article,  either  in  its  culture  or  manufacture,  cannot  be 
regarded  as  a  product  or  industry  of  this  State.  Why  it  is  not  either  the 
one  or  the  other,  is  a  question  that  has  not  been  satisfactorily  answered. 
There  is  a  silent  reproach,  in  the  absence  of  a  silk  industry  among  us, 
to  the  intelligence,  the  industry,  the  patience  of  the  people  of  North 
Carolina.  For  many  hundred  years  the  vine,  the  olive  and  the  silk- 
worm have  been  inextricably  associated  as  the  industrial  types  of  highly 
refined  people — the  adornments,  the  luxuries,  the  fountains  of  wealth 
to  the  nations  who  had  lifted  themselves  up  above  the  pursuit  of  those 
coarser  industrial  avocations  common  alike  to  man  just  emerged  from 
barbarism  to  man  attaining  the  upper  stratum  of  culture  and  civiliza- 
tion. Wine,  oil,  silk — the  jewels  in  that  diadem  wiih  which  society  has 
crowned  ilself  as  splendid  testimony  to  its  highest  achievements  in  its 
long  conflict  with  the  coarse  habiis  and  grosser  gratifications  of  the 
appetites  or  the  tastes  which  have  impeded  man  in  his  aim  at  refine- 
ment. 

Why  North  Carolina  has  been  .so  slow  to  adopt  what  nature  had 
thrown  in  her  way,  and  what  practice  had  so  long  since  proved  to  be 
feasible,  is  one  of  those  questions  which  ofienlimes  may  be  asked  with 
curiosity  and  surprise.  It  will  be  asked,  for  the  time  is  coming,  though 
it  cannot  be  said  to  be  at  hand,  when  wine  and  silk,  if  not  the  olive  oil 
(it  may  be  our  peanut  oil),  shall  give  to  North  Carolina  the  fame  that 
now  attaches  to  France  and  Italy.  Nature  planted  the  vine  among  us, 
from  the  very  edges  of  the  ocean  beach  to  the  valleys  among  our  liigh 
mountains,  with  liberal  and  generous  hand.  She  planted  the  mulberry 
with  the  same  profusion,  and  she  accompanied  it  with  a  robust  native 
silkworm.  But  she  gave  both  of  them  on  the  condition  that  the  intel- 
ligence and  the  skill  of  man  should,  as  in  everything  else  adapted  to 
human  uses,  be  applied  to  their  improvement.  That  the  wild  grape 
has  been  refined  into  the  delicate  Delaware,  so  should  the  rough,  coarse 
native  silkworm,  with  a  more  tender  diet  and  a  gentler  care,  be  subdued 
to  the  refinement  of  the  long-housed,  long-coddled  French  and  Italian 
worm,  so  long  pampered  as  to  have  lapsed  into  infirmity  and  unable  to 
perpetuate  his  kind.  Recourse  is  annually  had  to  China  and  Japan  for 
eggs  for  every  new  crop,  and  France  and  Italy  are  no  longer  indepen- 
dent silk  growers.  And  this  is  America's  opportunity.  As  American 
grapes  are  free  from  diseas",  so  are  American  silkworms,  even  tho.se  of 
European  origin;  and  the  United  States  might  put  herself  in  position 
to  supply  the  necessities  of  Europe  with  healthy  silkworm  eggs  if  it 
were  not  her  wiser  policy  to  avail  itself  of  the  opportunity  to  establish 
her  own  silk  industry  and  throw  off  a  dependence  which  annually  costs 
her  more  than  fifiy  millions  of  dollars. 

Silk  and  wine  have  proved  the  mainsprings  of  tran.'jatlantic  national 
wealth;  have  been  powerful  agents  in  the  spread  of  commerce,  thereby 
adding  largely  to  geographical  knowledge.     Both  of  these,  or  rather 


234  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

the  source  of  their  supply,  are  so  emphatically  at  home  in  North 
Carolina  as  to  entitle  them  to  be  classed  as  indigenous.  A  wild  silk- 
worm is  the  representative  of  its  foreign  cousin,  and  the  native  mul- 
berry everywhere  challenges  to  a  trial  of  the  silk  industry.  In  truth 
the  gauntlet  was  taken  up,  and  that  very  long  ago.  Silk  culture  was 
the  amusement  of  our  grandmothers  long  before  the  Kevolutionary 
war,  and  tradition  tells  of  smoothly-woven  and  splendidly  colored 
gowns  made  by  these  venerable  dames,  the  pride  of  the  households  and 
the  envy  of  their  homespun-clad  rivals;  it  also  tells  of  consignments  of 
raw  silk  and  yarns  and  thread  to  the  mother  country,  and  the  hope 
inspired  in  England  that  the  means  had  been  found  to  thwart  the 
rivalry  of  her  hereditary  enemy,  France.  At  a  period  long  subsequent 
to  the  Revolution,  and  when  the  first  bright  anticipation  had  been 
falsified,  there  was  a  promised  revival  of  hope.  During  the  years 
1830-2  there  was  active  renewal  of  interest  in  silk  culture;  the  silk- 
worm was  in  every  household;  a  speed}^  fortune  was  in  every  hand. 
Silk  was  on  every  tongue  and  filled  every  waking  thought  and  gilded 
every  slteping  dream.  Then  came  the  Morus  Multicaulis  fever,  wilder 
than  the  Dutch  tulip  mania  of  two  centuries  ago,  and  more  ruinous, 
for  it  was  not  only  disastrous  to  private  fortune,  but  it  blasted  for  many 
future  years  the  vigor  of  the  young  industry.  Speculation  in  multi- 
caulis buds  became  ihe  rage.  Some  at  first  made  fortunes:  thousands 
more  were  ruined;  for  multicaulis  multiplied  beyond  any  possible  use, 
and  could  neither  be  sold  or  given  away.  The  bubble  burst,  and  col- 
lapsed more  rapidly  than  it  was  blown  up,  and  multicaulis  and  the 
silk-worm  went  down  together  in  disgrace,  amid  the  execrations  of 
thousands  of  deceived  entliusiasts.  Kage  seized  the  minds  of  the  vic- 
tims, and  the  innocent  mulberry,  though  tenacious  of  life  as  the  hated 
Ailanthus,  was  so  ruthlessly  extirpated  that,  some  years  since,  when  an 
effort  was  made,  in  conjunction  with  certain  French  experts,  to  revive 
the  silk  industry,  sufficient  surviving  plants  could  nowhere  be  found 
in  the  State  except  in  the  town  of  Fayettevillo,  as  unfortunate  in  the 
multicaulis  speculation  as  it  has  been  in  so  much  else. 

Mr.  Edward  Fasnach,  of  Raleigh,  in  1870,  made  an  intelligent  and 
laborious  effort  to  draw  attention  to  this  industry.  He  was  a  native  of 
France,  V>ut  long  a  resident  of  this  country,  and  was  convinced  that 
North  Carolina  was  naturally  the  land  of  silk  and  wine.  He  estab- 
lished near  Raleigh  a  silk  farm,  and  was  so  far  successful  as  to  have 
made  some  considerable  shi()ments  of  cocoons  to  France.  He  aban- 
doned his  enterprise  because,  he  says,  the  science  of  Pasteur  had  found 
and  applied  a  remedy  to  the  diseases  of  the  silk-worm  in  France  and 
Italy.  How  permanent  that  remedy  is,  is  not  known.  It  is  certain 
that  within  the  past  few  years  the  procurement  of  annual  supplies  of 
silk-worm  eggs  from  China  and  Japan  has  been  renewed. 

At  present  the  cultivation  of  silk  in  North  Carolina  has  no  existence. 
Some  efforts  by  French  adventurers  to  establish  the  industry  in  Cum- 
berland and  Richmond  Counties  were  not  ."iincere,  and  were  abandoned, 
to  tlie  loss  of  those  whose  generous  credulity  had  been  taxed  for  the 
support  of  fraudulent  enterprises. 


SILK.  236 

The  only  suggestion  of  the  silk  industry  at  present  known'^in  North 
Carolina  is  the  silk-mill  at  Wadesboro,  operated  by  a  firm  from  New 
Jersey,  and  a  branch  of  one  of  the  great  silk-weaving  establishments 
in  that  State.  A  large  building  in  Wadesboro  is  occupied  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  appropriate  machinery,  operated  by  steam-power,  is  employed. 
There  are  360  spindles  and  winders,  240  spindles  and  doublers,  160 
spindles  for  spinning  and  60  for  unveiling.  The  product  is  trams,  fill- 
ing for  silk-weaving,  organzine  and  trams.  The  material  used  for  con- 
version into  threads  and  material  used  in  making  silk  fabrics  is  Chinese 
and  Japanese  yarns.  The  output  is  about  1,500  pounds  per  month, 
which  is  forwarded  to  the  parent  mills  in  New  Jerse3^  The  enterprise 
has  been  so  satisfactory  as  to  have  resulted  this  year  in  the  doubling  of 
the  machinery. 

The  following  suggestions  and  information  ma_y  be  of  value: 
Two  hundred  mulberry  trees  will  grow  very  well  on  two  acres  of 
land.  A  good  medium-sized  tree  will  yield  150  pounds  of  leaves,  which 
will  give  30,000  pounds  of  leaves  on  two  acres.  As  it  takes  seventeen 
pounds  of  leaves  to  make  one  pound  of  fresh  cocoons,  30,000  pounds 
will  give  1,765  pounds  of  fresh  cocoons.  The  1,765  pounds  of  fresh 
cocoons  will  make  588  pounds  of  dried  cocoons.  A  ready  market  for 
these  cocoons  can  be  found  in  Philadelphia,  through  the  medium  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  expenses  of  cultivating  two  acres 
in  trees,  feeding  the  worms,  etc.,  may  be  stated  as  follows: 

1  grown  person,  first  ten  days $  10 

2  boys  or  girls,  first  ten  days .6 

3  grown  persons,  second  ten  days .  -  - 20 

5  boys  or  girls,  second  ten  days 15 

3  grown  persons,  third  ten  days 30 

16  boys  or  girls,  third  ten  days 38 

$129 

If  a  few  dollars  for  food  is  added,  a  few  days'  work  for  pruning  and 
cultivating  the  trees,  and  a  few  sundries,  it  would  cover  a'l  the  expenses, 
which  would  not  exceed  $160. 


236  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


MINERAL  SPRINGS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

J)efure  tlie  present  lacililies  existed  for  rapid  and  comfortable  transit 
from  one  portion  of  the  State  to  the  other,  there  was  little  interest  mani- 
fested in  the  question  of  health  or  pleasure  resorts  within  our  borders. 
If  such  were  to  be  found,  they  werd  not  thought  worthy  to  compare 
with  the  established  fame  of  Saratoga  or  the  A^irginia  Springs.  Fashion 
had  set  her  stamp  on  these,  and  they  were  resorted  to,  not  so  much  for 
the  recovery  of  health  as  to  comply  with  the  requisitions  of  the  usages 
of  fashionable  society.  A  visit  to  Saratoga  or  the  White  Salphur  was 
as  much  de  riguer  on  the  Southern  people  as  the  performance  of  the 
grand  tour  was  in  former  days  upon  the  fashionables  of  England. 

There  were  two  notable  exceptions.  The  Warm  Springs,  now  in 
Madison  County,  were  once  credited  with  subs'antial  virtues,  and  r'leu- 
matic  old  gentlemen  annually  submitted  to  the  tormfnts  of  the  long 
jolting  ride  of  hundreds  of  miles,  in  all  the  unalleviable  discomforts  of 
iheir  old-fashioned  gigs,  with  the  hope  that  the  thermal  baths  would 
make  them  lithe  and  blithe  again,  with  the  certain  assurance  that  no 
luxuriance  of  the  table  and  no  delicacy  of  their  room  equipments  would 
counteract  the  good  effects  of  the  waters.  Then,  at  the  other  end  of  the 
State,  were  good  old  Shocco  Springs,  not  to  be  named  because  their 
waters  were  ever  of  any  possible  service,  but  memorable  for  the  genuine 
pleasure  they  brought  as  the  resort  of  a  somewhat  unsophisticated  style 
and  fashion,  emphasized  by  gay  equipage  and  splendid  dresses,  but  tol- 
erant of  plainnes',  only  exacting  of  good  manners  and  decorous 
behavior,  unmindful  of  the  rigors  of  etiquette,  welcoming  each  other 
in  contempt  of  letters  or  forms  of  introduction,  in  all  the  exuberance 
of  trustful  good  nature,  all  under  the  impulse  of  the  common  purpose 
to  find  the  reward  of  their  visit  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  sociability, 
hilarity  and  the  inspiriting  music  of  old  Frank  .Johnson  and  his  home- 
spun band.  Shocco  i^  now  unknown  to  this  generation.  The  tide  of 
travel  and  of  fashion  has  passed  by  it  and  left  it  high  and  dry,  a  sad 
memento  of  unsubstdntial  claim  to  fame.  Warm  Springs,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  expanded  into  Hot  Springs,  splendid  in  its  buildings  and 
equipments,  the  favored  sul)ject  of  large  investments  of  capital,  the  seat 
of  fashion  for  Northern  and  North-western  visitors,  more  iadebted  to 
them  for  its  present  brilliant  reputation  than  to  home  appreciation, 
but  giving  to  North  Carolina  abroad  a  position  among  h^alth  and 
pleasure  resorts,  long  withheld  because  of  long  years  of  almost  inacces- 
sible seclusion  in  the  narrow  gorges  of  the  French  Broad  Kiver.  Shocco 
shrunk  into  insignificance  and  disuse,  [)artly  from  the  calamities  of  war, 
but  permanently  because  it  was  remote  from  the  railroad,  without  which 
there  was  no  recuperation.  Warm  Springs,  on  the  other  hand,  expanded 
into  Hot  Sj)rings  by  virtue  of  easy  accessibility  from  all  directions  given 
by  railroad  facilities,  which  embraced  the  whole  continent;  and  then 
the  marvellous  and  exceptional  presence  of  water  flowing,  hot,  in  per- 
ennial stream  from  the  depths  of  the  eirth,  the  fin?  mountain  surround- 


MINEEAL    SPRINGS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  237 

ill gs,  the  broad  boisterous  river,  and  the  new  juxtaposition  of  the  choicest 
achievements  of  luxury  and  comfort  to  the  simplest  forms  and  methods 
of  the  unsophisticated  wilderness — all  these,  rather  than  the  superior 
virtues  of  its  waters,  have  established  for  Hot  Springs,  almost  alone 
among  the  mineral  springs  of  North  Carolina,  a  notoriety  extended  far 
beyond  its  territorial  limits. 

The  railroad  development  has  been  the  chief  agent  in  bringing  to 
general  knowledge  and  use  the  many  valuable  springs  and  pleasant 
resorts,  which  now  make  altogether  needless  those  tedious  and  costly 
visits  to  the  resorts  of  other  States.  Some  few,  indeed,  like  the  Buffalo 
Springs,  in  Mecklenburg  County,  Virginia,  retain  their  hold  upon  habit 
and  confidence,  near  our  borders,  with  the  simple  usages  to  which  we 
are  habituated  and  with  intrinsic  virtues  to  which  willing  tribute  is 
annually  paid  by  hundreds  of  trustful  devotees.  There  were  found  all 
over  North  Carolina,  in  localities  widely  separated  from  each  other, 
springs  of  local  fame,  and  even  more  than  that;  for  far-away  invalids 
painfully  made  their  way  to  them,  and  many  there  were  who  might 
say,  when  they  quaffed  the  healing  waters,  that  they  "took  up  their 
beds  and  walked."  It  is  not  therefore  surprising  that,  when  our  con- 
stantly expanding  railroad  system  reached  places  once  difficult  of 
approach,  their  solid  yet  once  half-concealed  virtues  were  recalled, 
brought  now  into  prominence,  and  make  them  the  trusted,  favored  and 
fashionable  places  some  of  them  now  are. 

It  is  proposed  to  speak  of  some  of  them,  necessarily  somewhat  briefly, 
but  fully  enough  to  give  a  general  conception  of  the  character  of  the 
waters  and  the  nature  of  the  surrounding  country.  The  selection  of 
examples  is  made  without  reference  to  the  superiority  of  one  over 
another,  but  with  the  purpose  of  showing  how  profusely  nature  has 
distributed  her  curative  waters,  and  how  impartially  she  has  made  the 
east  to  show  with  the  west,  and  how  bountifully  the  Middle  Section, 
equally  with  the  others,  has  been  provided. 

Among  the  early  well-known  springs  in  the  west  were  the  Wilson 
Springs,  once  in  Lincoln  County  before  its  division,  now^  in  Cleveland, 
near  Shelby,  and  known  now  as  the 

CLEVELAND  SPRINGS. 

These  are  about  two  miles  from  Shelbv,  which  place  is  reached  both 
by  the  Carolina  Central  and  the  Three  C's  roads,  and  are  situated  in  a 
region  of  grandly  rolling  hills,  cut  with  deep  broad  vales,  and  largely 
covered  with  native  forest.  The  general  elevation  of  the  country  is 
about  1,000  feet  above  sea- level,  near  enough  to  the  mountains  to  give 
commanding  views  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  South  Mountains,  King's, 
Crowder's  and  other  ranges— a  country  altogether  picturesque  and 
beautiful,  and  blessed  with  healthful  elastic  air.  The  hotel  accommo- 
dations are  ample  and  agreeable  in  all  particulars,  and  the  resort  to 
these  springs  is  very  large.  The  springs  are  many  and  of  varied  char- 
acter, the  waters  flowing  in  large  volume.  In  the  midst  of  its  verdant 
hills  and  shady  groves  flow  waters  from  a  dozen  springs,  each  one  con- 


238  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

taining  mineral  qualities  varying  in  their  combinations  and  effects  to 
such  a  degree  that  for  the  treatment  of  certain  diseases  the  White  Sul- 
phur is  the  panacea;  for  some  others  the  Red  Sulphur  and  Iodine  are 
required:  for  others  the  Chalybeate  is  best  suited,  whilst  for  others  the 
best  results  are  obtained  by  drinking  the  waters  of  several  alternately. 
The  ailments  which  seem  to  be  mostly  under  the  control  of  these  waters 
are  dyspepsia,  rheumatism,  malarial  troubles,  insomnia,  etc. 
,-The  following  is  the  analysis  of  two  of  the  springs  of  marked  merit: 

-  White  Sulphur'Springs. — One  gallon  of  water  contains  4.80  inches  sulpliuretted 
hydrogen  gas  and  carbonate  acid,  4.50  grains  carbonate  of  lime,  IS. 70  grains  sulphate 
of  lime,  4.yu  grains  mui-iate  of  lime,  7.65  grains  muriate  of  magnesia. 

Iodine  or  Red  Sulphur  Springs. — One  gallon  of  water  contains  4.22  cul)ic  inches 
sulphuretted  hydrogen  gas  and  cai-bonate  acid,  ;?.12  grains  carbonate  of  lime,  17.42 
grains  sulphate  of  lime,  iodine  and  magnesia. 

THE  SPARKLING  CATAWBA  SPRINGS 

Are  in  Catawba  County,  about  eight  miles  north  of  Hickory,  on  the 
Western  North  Carolina  Railroad,  and  are  reached  from  Hickory  by  a 
remarkably  smooth  and  level  road.  The  surrounding  country  is  a 
beautiful  one,  partly  wooded,  partly  in  cultivation,  and  with  scenic 
surroundings  of  great  beauty,  with  the  Brushy  Mountains  in  the  fore- 
ground on  the  north,  and  tine  views  of  the  Blue  Ridge  in  the  distance. 
The  hotel  accommodations  are  very  full,  and  the  Springs  have  main- 
tained good  repute  for  excellence  of  fare.  The  waters  of  the  Springs 
embrace  blue  and  white  sulphur,  and  chalybeate,  and,  from  the  known 
benefit  derived  by  well-attested  cures  in  their  use  as  an  alterative  and 
tonic  influence  over  the  lymphatic  and  secretive  glands,  they  are  unsur- 
passed, and  never  fail  to  strengthen  the  gastric  juices  of  the  stomach, 
and  increase  the  appetite,  assist  the  digestion  and  promote  the  assimi- 
lation of  food,  thereby  imparting  tone  and  health  to  the  person.  By 
the  u.se  of  those  mineral  waters,  diseases  of  the  liver,  tlyspepsia,  vertigo, 
neuralgia,  ophthalmia  or  sore  eyes,  paralysis,  spinal  affections,  rheu- 
matism, scrofula,  gravel,  diabetes,  kidney  and  urinary  diseases,  are 
greatly  relieved. 

CONNELLY   SPRINGS, 

Midway  between  Morganton  and  Hickory,  on  the  Western  North  Caro- 
lina Railroad,  have  become  a  favorite  summer  resort,  partly  owing  to 
the  curative  virtues  of  the  sulphur  water  and  also  to  the  good  hotel 
and;^readines3  of  access  to  the  place.  The  elevation  .secures  pleasant 
summer  temperature,  and  the  proximity  of  the  Blue  Ridge  on  the 
north  and  the  South  Mountains  on  the  south-west  a.ssure  tiie  charm  of 
fine  though  somewhat  remote  mountain  scenery. 

BARIUM   SPRING, 

In  Iredell  County,  has  excited  much  interest,  and  will  eventually  become 
a  very  popular  health  resort.  This  Spring  was  discovered  about  1775. 
It  was  fjrmerly  known  as  the  "Poison  Spring,''  so  called  under  a  mis- 


MINERAL    SPRINGS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  239 

taken  idea  of  the  early  settlers,  who,  because  cattle  refused  to  drink  the 
water,  were  led  to  believe  that  it  M'as  injurious.  Experience  and  chem- 
istry, however,  have  disproved  and  entirely  reversed  this  supposition, 
and  the  water  is  known  now  to  be  a  valuable  remedy  for  many  dis- 
eases. The  anal3'ses  of  Professors  Chandler,  Ledoux  and  Phillips  show 
that  it  contains,  in  varying  proportions,  barium,  chloride  and  sulphate, 
iron,  soda,  sulphur,  magnesia  and  phosphoric  acid,  in  such  combina- 
tions as  to  render  it  a  curative  and  tonic  agent,  the  equal  of  any  min- 
eral water  known  It  has  no  visible  outflow,  and  the  water  remains  at 
a  constant  level,  never  freezes,  never  stagnates,  and  it  will  keep  pure 
and  retain  its  curative  efficiency  indetinitely.  These  remarkable  Springs 
were  well  known  to  the  Indians,  and  their  waters  were  so  highly  esteemed 
by  them  for  their  potent  curative  properties  that  they  made  the  locali'y 
a  regular  rendezvous,  as  is  proven  by  tradition  and  by  numerous  evi- 
dences of  their  ibrmer  occupation.  The  other  s[)rings  all  contain  vary- 
ing mineral  ingredients,  sulphur  and  iron  benig  the  most  prominent 
elements  in  them. 

THE   MOORE  SPRING, 

In  Stokes  County,  not  far  from  Danbury,  remarkable  for  its  control 
over  cutaneous  alfections  and  impurity  of  the  blood,  is  worthy  of  note, 
though  not  a  resort,  from  the  unusual  presence  of  many  mineral  ingre- 
dients, to  such  extent  as  to  have  astonished  the  State  Chemist,  who 
makes  the  following  analysis: 

Potassium  sulpliate,  0.210  grains:  sodium  chloride,  2  957  grains;  sodium  sulpliate, 
0.778  grains,  sodium  pliospliate,  0  542  grains;  calcium  carbonate,  61.436  grains:  mag- 
nesium carbonate.  1.058  grains:  silica,  1.308  grains;  volatile  and  organic  matter  and 
loss.*  40.136;  total,  108.425.     Oxide  of  iron  alumina,  trace. 

Greensboro  has  within  its  limits  valuable  mineral  springs. 

The  Winston  Marienbad  waters  are  drawing  much  intelligent  atten- 
tion. The  following  is  a  brief  extract  from  a  newspaper  account  of 
them : 

"In  the  spring  discovered  by  Mr.  S.  A.  Hauser  on  his  place,  two  and 
a  half  miles  north-west  of  Winston,  our  community  has  gained  one  of 
the  most  valuable  acquisitions  conceivable.  According  to  Dr.  Battle's 
analysis,  this  water  contains  calcium  carbonate,  magnesium  carbonate, 
iron  oxide,  sodium  chloride,  and  potassium  sulphate.  The  water  is 
very  similar  to  that  of  Marienbad,  the  famous  Bohemian  Spa.  The 
Marienbad  waters  contain  calcium  carbonate,  magnesium  ceirbonate, 
ferrous  carbonate,  sodium  chloride,  lithium  carbonate,  and  trace  of 
strontium,  manganese,  silica,  etc.  The  analogy  between  the  Marienbad 
waters  and  ours  is  very  close,  for,  while  ours  has  no  lithium,  yet  it  has 
potassium,  which  is  even  a  better  ingredient  and  possesses  all  the  other 
effective  elemen's  of  the  Marienbad." 

THE   PIEDMONT  SPRINGS, 

In  Stokes  Count}-,  not  far  from  Danbury,  have  high  repute,  and,  there 
being  a  large  and  good  hotel  on  the  premises,  it  is  largely  re-orted  to. 

*  Including  undeterniinod  matter. 


240  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

It  is  twelve  miles  from  either  the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  Valley  road 
or  the  Roanoke  and  Southern  branch  of  the  Norfolk  and  Western. 

ELLERBEE  SPRINGS. 

Among  the  best  locall}^  valued  springs  in  this  State  is  one  above 
named,  situated  about  twelve  miles  north  of  Rockingham,  Richmond 
County,  through  which  passes  the  Carolina  Central  Railroad.  The 
Springs  are  in  a  dry,  healthy,  sand-hill  region.  The  waters  have  a 
remarkably  abundant  flow,  the  predominant  elements  being  iron  and 
sulphur.  No  analysis  is  attainable,  but  the  Springs  are  worthy  of  men- 
tion, because  in  them  is  found  a  remedy  for  that  stubborn,  distressing 
malady,  hay  fever.  Over  that  its  immediate  control  seems  to  be 
supreme,  no  instance  of  failure  to  cure  being  known,  though  so  far 
patients  under  that  ailment  are  few. 

Jackson  Springs,  Mount  Vernon  Springs  and  others  have  fine  local 
character,  and  worthily  attract  large  annual  resort;  but  it  is  impossible 
to  give  the  characteristics  of  all  in  detail.  The  Lincoln  Lithia,  at  Lin- 
colnton,  is  among  those  whose  waters  are  valued  abroad  and  largely 
distributed. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  Middle  Section  of  the  State  are 

THE   PANACEA  SPRINGS, 

Near  Littleton,  N.  C,  on  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  branch  of  the  Seaboard 
.system,  and  about  seventy  miles  north  of  Raleigh.  These  Springs  are 
in  a  pretty  valley  among  the  rolling  hills  of  an  unexpectedly  pic- 
turesque countr}',  its  rocks  and  its  thick  forests  of  oak,  hickory  and 
other  fine  timber  trees  giving  token  of  healthy  airs  and  life-giving- 
waters.  The  w'aters  have  only  become  widely  known  within  the  past 
few  years,  but  have  already  acrpiired  lame  at  home  and  abroad.  The 
claims  for  efficacy  in  many  maladies  are  ver}^  extensive,  but  appear  to 
be  well  sustained.  For  dyspepsia  they  are  said  to  be  very  beneficial ; 
also  for  chronic  diarrhrea,  scrofula,  kidney  troubles  and  other  diseases. 
The  waters  lose  none  of  their  virtues  by  transportation,  and  are  sold 
by  the  drug-stores  throughout  the  State.  There  is  a  good  hotel  on  the 
premises. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  series  of  springs  in  the  State  are  known  as 

THE  SEVEN   SPRINGS. 

They  are  as  remarkable  for  their  locality  and  the  nature  of  their 
surroundings  as  for  their  genuine  virtues.  They  are  in  the  .south-east 
corner  of  Wayne  County,  eighteen  miles  from  both  Kinston  and  Golds- 
boro,  but  most  readily  and  quickly  reached  from  La(Trangc,  on  the 
Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  Railroad,  seven  miles  north  of  the  springs. 
The  springs  lie  almost  immediately  on  the  banks  of  the  Neuse  River, 
in  a  region  of  hil's  and  bluffs,  and  amid  fore.sts  of  hard-wood  trees, 
giving  a  very  marked  up-country  feature  by  their  intrusion  into  the 


FISHERIES.  241 

flat  lands  and  monotonous  forest  of  the  low  country.  The  springs,  as 
their  title  implies,  are  seven  in  number,  all  bubbling  up  in  clear,  strong 
volume,  in  close  contiguity  and  enclosed  and  encased  in  a  spring-house 
of  remarkably  limited  though  absolutely  convenient  dimensions.  The 
waters  are  as  different  in  their  qualities  as  they  are  in  their  numbers, 
and  prove  effective  in  malarial  diseases,  indigestion,  insomnia,  kidney 
troubles,  including  Bright's  disease,  weakness  and  inflammation  of  the 
eyes,  loss  of  appetite,  etc.  These  springs  have  been  known  for  many 
years,  and  have  been  the  resort  of  the  surrounding  country,  but  only 
comparatively  recently  have  they  become  known  to  the  more  distant 
public.  A  good  and  capacious  hotel  now  makes  it  practicable  to  dis- 
tribute their  benefits  among  a  much  larger  circle  of  health-seekers. 

There  are  many  other  springs  of  value  throughout  North  Carolina 
than  those  above  named.  All  of  them  are  now  accessible  by  railroad. 
Therefore  there  is  no  need  for  a  North  Carolinian  to  go  abroad  to  repair 
his  injured  health,  and  there  is  good  reason  why  the  invalid  of  other 
States  should  seek  our  health-giving  waters. 

A  spring  and  resort,  omitted  in  its  proper  place,  must  not  be  neglected. 
These  are  the 

GLEN   ALPINE   SPRINGS, 

Eleven  miles  from  Morganton,  and  reached  from  Glen  Alpine  station, 
on  the  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad.  They  are  beautifully  situ- 
ated among  the  South  Mountains,  a  range,  if  not  so  lofty,  quite  as  bold 
and  picturesque  as  the  Blue  Ridge — a  delightful  resort,  with  woods,  and 
mountains,  and  valleys,  and  gorges,  and  tumbling  waterfalls,  and  a  good 
hotel,  and  what  is  sought  for  by  the  invalid — invaluable  mineral  springs. 
These  are  chiefly  lithia  waters.  The  following  is  an  analysis  of  Glen 
Alpine  Springs  water  by  H.  B.  Battle,  State  Chemist : 

One  U.  S.  gallon  contained  solids:  Potassium  sulphate,  .212  grains;  sodium  sulphate, 
.360  grains;  sodium  chloride,  .619  grains;  calcium  carbonate,  2. 940  grains;  magnesium 
carbonate,  .631  grains;  silica,  .069  grains:  oxide  of  alumina,  .742  grains;  *oxide  of 
iron,  .731  grains;  volatile  and  organic  matter  and  loss,  1.779  grains;  total,  8.083  grains. 


FISHERIES. 

The  fisheries  of  North  Carolina  are  of  vastly  more  importance  than 
is  attached  to  them  by  the  people  of  the  interior,  and  by  those  who  leg- 
islate for  the  interests  of  the  whole  State,  else  there  would  not  have 
been  that  premature  extinguishment  of  that  enlightened  measure,  the 
Fish  Commission,  which  was  doing  so  much  to  restore  to  the  waters  of 
North  Carolina,  inland  as  well  as  exterior,  that  amazing  store  of  food 
fish  which  once  so  bountifully  and  so  gratefully  contributed  to  the  table 
supplies  of  the  people  from  the  coast  up  to  the  very  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains. It  was  the  comment  of  the  early  explorers  and  settlers  that  the 
waters  of  the  country  now  forming  the  State  of  North  Carolina  were  so 

♦Equivalent  to  carbonate  of  iron,  1.0-52. 

16 


242  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

stocked  with  fish  as  to  pleasantly  solve,  without  au  argument,  the  ques- 
tion of  subsistence,  and  that  in  the  season  of  migration  the  rivers  were 
so  thronged  with  the  crowding  swarms  struggling  for  pass-way  up  to 
their  heads  as  to  suffocate  each  other  by  their  pressure.  This  is  prob- 
ably exuberant  exaggeration;  but  it  is  certain  that  at  a  period  even 
now  remembered  by  the  living  the  visitations  of  the  shad  in  bountiful 
runs  was  annually  awaited  along  the  Cape  Fear,  the  Neuse,  the  Tar, 
the  Roanoke,  the  Yadkin  and  the  Catawba,  up  to  their  very  sources; 
shad  being  taken  in  large  quantities  in  the  Yadkin  far  above  ^Salisbury, 
in  the  Catawba  above  Morganton,  in  the  Neuse  above  Raleigh,  and  in 
such  abundance  as  to  be  sold  at  prices  that  now  appear  to  have  been 
absurdly  small.  The  usual  results  of  improvidence,  of  greediness,  of 
needless  waste,  of  selfish  obstructions,  followed;  and,  while  straggling 
individuals,  or  even  diminished  schools,  sometimes  es<ay  the  pathway 
of  ancestral  swarms,  the  fact  remains  that  the  fish  resource  is  on  ihe 
coast  or  in  the  estuaries  or  mouths  of  the  rivers  which  once  opened  to 
to  invite  to  far  interior  exploration. 

On  the  coast,  however,  there  yet  exists  an  important  industry  in  the 
fisheries,  the  most  important  on  the  South  Atlantic  coast.  The  fish 
with  the  greatest  commercial  value  are  shad,  herring,  mullet,  bluefish, 
menhaden,  sturgeon,  rock-bass,  Spanish  mackerel  and  others  of  inferior 
importance.  » 

The  following  table  of  statistics,  though  not  of  very  recent  date,  will 
give  an  approximate  idea  of  the  iuiportance  of  the  North  Carolina 
fisheries.  Owing  to  the  very  great  recent  development  in  the  practice 
of  sending  fresh  fish  on  ice  to  the  Northern  cities  and  through  the 
interior  of  this  State,  there  is  unquestionably  a  large  increase,  both  in 
the  quantity  and  value  of  fish  taken : 

Persons  employed 5,274 

Fishinf?  vessels 95 

Fishing  boats 2,714 

capital  dependent  on  the  fishery  industries $506,56 1 

Pounds  of  sea  products  taken  (including  oystei's) 11 ,357,800 

Value  of  same $280,745 

Pounds  of  river  products  taken 20,892,188 

Value  of  same $546,950 

Total  value  of  products  to  the  fishermen !^827,695 

There  is  a  distribution  of  the  business  of  the  fisheries  very  clearly 
defined  by  localities,  and  also  largely  by  the  character  and  value  of  the 
subjects  of  the  catch.  These  localities  will  be  considered  briefly,  as 
follows: 

THE  CAPE  FEAR  FISHERIES, 

Which  include  all  from  Federal  Point  at  the  mouth  of  the  ('a|>e  Fear 
River  to  New  Hiver,  the  i)roceeds  of  which  nearly  all  find  a  market 
in  Wilmington.  The  most  imjx)rtant  fish,  in  quantity,  is  the  mullet, 
which  is  caught,  salted  and  barreled  to  the  amount  of  from  8,000  to 
10,000  Vjarrels  annually.  The  season  for  mullets  is  during  the  months 
of  Augu.st,  September,  October  and  November.  The  fish  are  caught 
in  seines,  at  some  points,  as  atZeke's  Island,  outside  the  bars;  and  most 


FISHERIES.  243 

generally,  where  the  condilioii  of  the  sea  admits,  in  the  open  outside 
waters. 

The  season  for  shad  is  in  February,  March  and  April.  They  are 
caught  in  seines,  drift  nets  and  dip  nets.  They  are  largely  sent  fresh 
on  ice  to  the  Northern  markets,  and  are  in  great  demand,  both  on  account 
of  intrinsic  merit  and  of  their  early  appearance  in  the  market. 

The  sturgeon,  of  recent  years,  has  become  valuable,  not  for  home 
consumption,  but  to  meet  a  Northern  demand  which  is  steadily  increas- 
ing. They  are  caught  in  the  Cape  Fear  River  to  the  amount  of  about 
100,000  pounds  annually,  and  are  at  once  shipped  by  rail,  on  ice. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  interesting  to  give  the  list  made  by  that 
very  close  observer  and  early  liistorian  of  North  Carolina,  Lawson,  who, 
in  1714,  tells  us  what  kind  of  fish  frequent  our  coasts,  as  follows: 

Whales,  several  sorts;  thrashers,  devilfish,  swordfish,  crampois,  bottle  noses,  por- 
poises, sharks — two  sorts;  dogfish,  Spanish  mackerel,  cavallies,  bonitos,  bluefish, 
drum,  red  and  black;  angel-fish,  bass  or  rockfish,  sheephead,  plaice,  flounder, 
soles,  mullets,  shad,  fat  backs,  guard — white  and  green;  scate  or  sting-ray,  thorn- 
back,  conger  eels,  lamprey  eels,  sunfish,  toadfish,  tench,  salt-water  trout,  croakers, 
herring,  smelts,  breams,  tailors;  and  an  infinity  of  fresh-water  fish,  and  also  all 
the  varieties  of  shellfish. 

The  same  fish  are  still  found,  and  there  are  very  few  changes  in  the 
names._ 

BEAUFORT  AND  MOREHEAD  FISHERIES 

Embrace  an  area  of  more  than  eighty  miles  in  length,  extending  from 
Portsmouth  near  Ocracake  Inlet  on  the  north-east  to  Bogue  Sound  on 
the  south-west,  embracing  the  inside  waters  of  the  sounds  and  bays, 
and  the  outside  waters  under  Cape  Lookout.  The  varieties  include 
many  of  those  named  in  Lawson's  enumeration,  excluding  the  shad, 
which  seeks  the  sources  of  fresh-water  rivers.  The  bluefish,  one  of  the 
most  numerous,  make  their  appearance  in  large  schools  twice  in  the 
year.  They  come  in  from  the  sea  between  the  I5th  of  April  and  the  1st 
of  May  and  are  caught  until  June.  They  are  then  migrating  north- 
wardly. They  are  caught  off  Lookout  through  the  whole  summer. 
They  are  caught  again  in  the  fall,  beginning  about  the  1st  of  August. 
With  them  are  caught  the  sea  trout,  Spanish  mackerel,  spots,  croakers, 
and  other  migrating  fish.  This  migration  beginning  early  in  August, 
continues  until  about  the  middle  of  November.  The  mullet  appears 
in  immense  schools  about  the  middle  of  August  and  runs  until  about 
the  middle  of  November,  during  which  time  they  are  very  fat  and  in 
good  demand.  About  one-half  are  shipped  fresh  on  ice,  and  the  other 
half  is  salted  to  the  extent  of  from  8,000  to  10,000  barrels  annually.  In 
Beaufort  Harbor  and  other  protected  waters  they  are  caught  with  gill  nets; 
outside  they  are  caught  with  seines.  Recently  the  practice  of  deep-sea 
fishing  has  been  resorted  to  with  remarkable  success,  nets  being  dropped, 
properly  weighted,  to  the  depth  of  eighty  to  one  hundred  feet,  and 
drawn  up  filled  to  bursting  with  varieties  of  marketable  fish.  Among 
the  marketable  fish  caught  are  pompano,  trout,  Spanish  mackerel,  croak- 
ers, spot'^,  and  others,  and  all  in  immense  and  unfailing  quantities. 


244  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

About  1,000  men  are  here  employed,  working  400  boats.  Eighty  boats 
are  employed  outside  the  bar,  fishing  with  seines,  or  with  hook  and 
line.  All  the  fresh  fish  are  shipped  on  ice  by  rail,  b}'^  way  of  New- 
bern,  from  which  place  they  go  either  by  rail  to  destination,  or  by 
steamer  to  Elizabeth  City.  The  shippers  prepay  annually  about 
$15,000  in  freight  on  their  fresh  fish  shipments. 

Beaufort  Harbor  has  for  many  years  been  the  centre  of  a  whale  fish- 
ery, the  whale  seeking  the  cool  arctic  current  which  runs  down  the  coast 
under  Lookout  as  far  down  as  Cape  Fear,  there  iinding  the  food  they 
delight  in.  Once  the  whale  was  so  numerous  as  to  invite  to  this  coast 
for  their  capture  the  whalers  of  New  England.  Now  they  appear  only 
at  intervals,  some  times  six  or  eight  during  the  year,  sometimes 
none  at  all.  Bat  preparations  for  their  capture  are  always  in  readiness. 
The  whalers  live  along  the  shore,  with  their  boats,  harpoons,  bombs 
and  lines  always  in  readiness;  and  as  soon  as  a  whale  is  sighted  all 
respond  to  a  general  signal  and  engage  in  pursuit,  and  the  victim  rarely 
escapes.  The  skeleton  now  on  the  floor  of  the  State  Geological  Muse- 
um at  Raleigh,  is  that  of  a  whale  captured  off  Beaufort  about  187G. 
It  is  05  feet  in  length. 

NEWBERN, 

At  the  head  of  the  broad  estuar}^  of  the  Neuse  River,  is  rather  a  fish 
market  than  a  fishing  place.  It  derives,  in  relation  to  the  fisheries,  its 
importance  as  being  the  entrepot  and  jioint  of  shipment  for  the  catch  of 
the  adjacent  waters.  About  two  million  herrings  are  caught  in  the 
waters  of  the  Neuse,  which  are  sought  as  suitable  spawning  ground, 
running  into,  and  soon  filling  up,  the  smallest  streams.  The  herring 
begins  lo  run  about  the  1st  of  March,  and  the  height  of  the  season  is 
reached  in  about  a  month.  About  half  of  the  catch  is  shipped  or  con- 
.sumed  fresh,  and  the  rest  is  salted.  Shad  appear  early  in  January, 
increase  in  numbers  during  February,  and  are  in  their  greatest  j)lenty 
and  perfection  about  the  middle  of  March.  They  are  caught  in  seines, 
gill  and  skim  nets.  The  Newbern  shad  command  a  higher  price  than 
obtained  for  others,  both  on  account  of  size  and  quality.  There  are 
five  principal  dealers  in  Newbern,  and  their  business,  in  conjunction 
with  that  of  Morohead,  exceeds  half  a  million  of  dollars  a  year.  The 
fresh-water  fisheries  of  Newbern  are  very  important,  continued  through 
the  3'ear.  The  fish,  principally  perch,  chub  and  pickerel,  are  caught  in 
the  numerous  creeks  with  hooks,  drag  and  gill  nets,  and  contribute 
largely  to  the  fish  supply  of  the  interior. 

Washington,  on  the  Pamlico  River  at  the  head  of  the  estuary  which 
receives  the  waters  of  Tar  River,  offers  fine  inducements  to  the  run  of 
both  shad  and  herring,  and  great  quantities  of  both  are  caught; 
and  with  the  completion  of  the  branch  of  the  W.  tt  W.  road  to  this 
point,  every  facility  is  offered  to  the  quick  transportation  to  destina- 
tion of  fresh  fish  on  ice. 

The  whole  of  the  eastern  water  section  is  engaged  in  this  industry. 
The  demands  upon  which,  which  are  yearlv  increasing,  seem  to  have 
been  fully  met  by  the  successful  work  of  the  Fish  Commission,  and  made 


FISHERIES.  245 

manifest  by  the  increasing  numbers  and  quality  of  the  cultivated  and 
protected  ti-li,  and  then  brought  lo  an  untimely  end,  the  act  for  the 
creation  of  the  J'ish  Commission  having  been  repealed  prematurel3^ 
Other  States  who  adopted  the  system  of  fish  culture  have  been  wiser 
than  we,  and  persevere.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  wisdom  will  return  to 
our  Legislature  and  the  act  be  renewed. 

The  most  extensive  and  profitable  of  the  fisheries  lie  along  Albe- 
marle Sound  and  its  tributary  waters. 

The  following  in  relation  to  them,  and  which  gives  ample  information, 
is  quoted  from  "The  Albemarle  Sectioti,"  a  pamphlet  compiled  by 
Messrs.  F.  E.  and  Frank  Vaughan,  of  Elizabeth  City: 

The  fisheries  of  Nortli  Carolina  are  the  most  important  on  the  South  Atlantic  coast. 
The  shad  and  herring  fisheries  are  the  most  extensive  and  important  of  any  State,  and 
the  fisheries  of  the  Albemarle  section  of  Nortli  Carolina  are  larger  and  the  products 
more  valuable  than  those  of  the  balance  of  the  State  combined.  Especially  is  this 
true  of  the  seine  fisheries.  It  is  estimated  that  300.000  yards  of  seine  are  ojierated  in 
the  Albemarle  Sounds.  In  addition,  there  are  thousands  of  stake,  drift,  pound  and 
other  kinds  of  nets  operated  in  the  great  sounds  and  rivei's  in  this  section.  The  largest 
of  the  seines  are  some  2,500  yards  in  length — about  a  mile  and  a  half.  From  end  to 
end  of  the  hauling  ropes,  when  the  seine  is  out,  the  distance  is  nearly  four  miles.  The 
seines  are  "shot" — that  is,  carried  out  and  deposited  in  the  M^ater— by  steam  flats,  and 
steam-power  is  also  used  in  bringing  them  to  shore  with  their  great  loads  of  fish. 
Formerly  the  "shooting"  was  all  done  by  means  of  boats  manned  by  from  sixteen  to 
twenty-four  sturdy  oarsmen,  but  the  inventive  genius  of  a  citizen  of  the  Albemarle 
section  opened  the  way  to  better  and  moi-e  rapid  methods.  To  Capt.  Peter  Warren, 
of  Edenton.  is  due  all  the  credit  for  that  great  modern  convenience  of  the  large  fish- 
eries, known  as  the  steam  flat.  The  varieties  of  valuable  fishes  frequenting  the  waters 
of  the  Albemarle  section  in  great  numbers  are  numerous  Chief  among  the  commer- 
cial fishes  are  herring,  shad,  rock  (striped  bass),  mullet,  bluefish,  Spanish  mackerel, 
chub  (black  bass),  perch,  sturgeon,  menhaden,  trout,  spots,  hogfish,  croakers,  and  of 
the  shellfish,  oysters  and  clams.  The  crab,  so  abundant  in  many  places,  is  the  arch 
enemy  of  the  gill-netter,  having  no  respect  for  either  the  nets  or  its  finny  captives, 
and  destroying  both  with  apparently  equal  relish.  Even  this  Ishmaelite  of  the  Avaters 
is  sought  for  profit,  being  prepared  for  market  at  Hampton,  Va  ,  and  other  places  on 
the  coast  The  herring,  as  he  is  universally  called,  in  reality  an  ale-wife,  is  entitled 
to  the  distinction  of  king  of  our  commercial  fishes— not  that  "his  flavor  is  so  fine  as  of 
dozens  of  other  varieties,  or  that  he  brings  even  a  hundredth  part  of  what  other  fish 
sometimes  bring,  but  l)ecause  he  never  fails  to  come,  be  the  season  good  or  bad.  From 
fifty  to  a  hundred  thousand  herrings,  and  often  twice  that  number,  are  frequently 
taken  at  a  single  haul  of  a  large  seine  in  a  good  season  It  is  reliably  stated  that  as 
many  as  400,000  herrings  have  been  saved  from  a  single  haul  of  a  seine  in  Albemarle 
Sound,  thousands  of  fish  escaping  and  being  thrown  away  for  want  of  handling  facili- 
ties. Herring  are  cured  in  salt  and  stored  in  barrels  and  kegs.  Three  grades  of  them 
are  prepared  for  market— cut,  roe  and  gross.  They  are  also  cured  by  smoking,  though 
on  a  much  smaller  scale.  Tiie  other  most  valuable  species  of  food  fish  taken  in  the 
Albemarle  waters  are  shad  and  rock,  caught  in  great  numbers  in  Albemarle  Sound 
and  its  tributary  streams,  and  to  a  less  extent  in  the  Pamlico  Sound  and  its  tributaries. 
These  fish  (and  others,  as  perch,  chubs,  etc.)  are  packed  in  ice  and  shipped  fresh.  The 
North  Carolina  shad  command  the  highest  prices,  because  they  begin  to  "run"  first 
and  are  early  on  the  market.  Thus,  while  the  State  of  Maryland  is  credited  bv  the 
census  with  a  slightly  larger  catch  of  shad,  the  price  realized  for  the  North  Carolina 
shad  is  so  nmch  greater  that  the  value  of  the  catch  is  more  than  double  that  of  the 
Maryland  fishery,  because  the  shad  are  marketed  before  fishing  begins  there.  The 
quantity  of  shad  taken  in  the  waters  of  this  section  in  a  good  year  is  between  three 
and  four  million  of  pounds.  The  shad  is  a  much  more  timid  fish  than  the  lierring, 
and  not  so  easily  entrapped  At  the  head  of  the  Albemarle  Sound,  made  fresh  by 
the  volume  of  w-ater  from  the  Roanoke,  Cashie,  Chowan  and  other  rivers,  is  the 
favorite  spawning  grounds  of  the  shad,  and  it  is  in  their  passage  hither  that  they  are 
ensnared  in  the  seines  and  nets  all  through  the  sounds  and  rivers.  At  Avoca,  at  the 
head  of  Albemarle  St>und,  was  a  hatchery  for  shad,  furnished  with  the  most  approved 


246  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

appliances.  It  was  a  State  institution,  and  tlie  work  was  done,  under  the  ausi)ites  of 
the  State  Board  of  Agric  ulture.  by  Mr  Stephen  G.  Worth,  Superintendent  of  Fish  and 
Fisheries.  Millions  of  shad-fry  had  been  artitieially  hatched  at  this  station  and  turned 
loose  in  the  inland  waters  of  the  State.  The  number  placed  in  the  streams  tributary 
to  the  Albemarle  Sound  from  1877  to  1880  was  10,963,000;  in  streams  tributary  to  Pam- 
lico Sound,  3,846.000. 

The  shellfish  of  these  waters,  however,  merit  some  mention.  There  are  extensive 
beds  of  clams  on  the  banks,  and  they  are  taken  from  their  beds  in  the  sand  in  great 
tumibers.  The  demand  is  largely  local,  but  the  volume  of  export  is  increasing  through 
shipments  to  New  York.  The  oyster  interests  of  tliis  section  bid  fair  at  an  early  day 
to  assume  large  i)roportions,  by  the  aid  of  favorable  legislation  and  by  proper  culture. 
The  Pamlico  Sound  and  its  tributaries  form  a  vast  natural  oyster  field,  that,  with 
improved  methods  of  culture,  will  supply  a  large  demand.  The  whole  floor  of  the 
sound,  covering  hundreds  of  S([uare  miles,  can  readily  be  converted  into  jMoductive 
oyster  fields.  In  many  places  the  natural  oyster  rock  now^  covers  the  bottom  for  miles, 
and  oysters  can  be  gathered  in  quantities  at  a  cost  of  about  twenty  cents  and  less  per 
bushel.  Some  of  these  oysters  are  of  superior  size  and  (quality.  In  j>laces  where  they 
have  been  artificially  planted  they  compare  favorably  with  the  best  cultivated  products 
of  the  Chesapeake  Bay. 

Several  highly-prized  varieties  of  turtle  and  terrapin  are  to  be  found  in  quantities 
in  the  waters  of  the  Albemarle  section.  Diamond-l)ack  terra])ins,  the  most  valuable 
of  them  all,  abound  in  places,  and  are  taken  and  shipped  in  considerable  (juantities. 

The  following  information  was  communicaled  by  Dr.  W.  R.  Cape- 
hart  after  the  preceding -matter  had  been  sent  to  the  pres--.  As  this  gen- 
tleman is  authority  on  fish  and  fisheries,  it  is  just  to  him  and  the  sub- 
ject to  add  his  information  : 

Prior  to  1800  gill  nets  were  the  only  device  for  catching  shad  and  sturgeon.  Soon 
after  that  date  seines  were  rigged  and  operated — Mr.  Jos.  B.  and  Cluirles Skinner,  Mr. 
CuUen  Capehart  and  Mr.  Starke  Armistead,  being  the  first  to  embark  iji  the  new 
enterprise.  Greatsuccess  followed,  and  rapidly  seine  beaches  were  cleared  nil  along 
the  streams  of  Albemarle  Sound  down  to  Roanoke  Island,  and  were  operated  until 
the  beginning  of  the  war— manual  labor  and  horse-power  being  used.  Mr.  Cullen 
Capehart  in  one  season  realized  a  profit  of  $18,000  in  sixty  days— 160.000  shad,  besides 
several  barrels  of  herrings,  etc.  At  that  date,  1844.  all  fish  of  each  variety  were 
cut,  salted  and  shijiped  to  Bath,  Baltimore,  Richmond.  Philadelyihia  and  New  York.  In 
1850  we  commenced  ])acking  shad  in  vessels  and  shi])ping  North.  Said  vessel  being 
laden  with  ice  (ice-grinding  machines  on  deck),  and,  dropping  anchor  in  front  of  one 
of  the  large  fisheries,  jiurchased  the  shad,  started  the  grinder,  and  .'^oon  the  vessel 
was  laden  with  shad  packed  in  ground  ice,  when  it  would  set  sail  for  New  York. 

As  soon  as  we  commenced  fishing  after  the  close  of  the  war.  a  new  mode  was 
commenced,  shad,  herring,  striped  bass  and  perch  were  packed  in  boxes  containing 
fiftv  .shad  and  filled  with  finely  ground  ice,  and  shij)ped  by  fast  freight  to  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  this  has  continued  to  the  present  date  The  catch 
varies  very  imich  some  seasons.  I  have  known  one  beach  to  catch  1  OO.OdO  shad  in  sixt^'- 
five  days.'and  I  have  known  the  same  beach  to  catch  only  14.<i0()  to  a  season  The 
expense  was  from  $8,000  to !?!(>. 000  ])er  season.  Formerly,  or  until  187'3,  large  boats,  ])ro- 
|M'lled  l)y  ten  long  oars,  were  used  to  convey  the  seines.  But  Capt.  Peter  M.  Warren 
in  1H72  constructed  a  fiat-bottom  steamer.  These  boats  are  very  seaworthy,  going  in 
almost  any  water.  He  also  i)atented  a  steam  gear  for  drawing  the  seines  to  the  shore, 
so  that,  from  that  date  to  the  present,  tlie  large  seines  are  jnit  out  on  large  steamboats 
and  drawn  to  the  shore  liy  steam-engines,  an  engine-house  with  8te.'|m  drums  being 
at  each  extremity  of  the  beach.  About  this  date  a  new  and  economical  device  was 
placed  in  our  waters,  known  as  the  jiound  or  stationary  net.  and  commonly  called 
dutch  net,  because  a  Pennsylvania  Dutchman  first  put  them  in  Albemarle  Sound. 
Now  our  streams  are  lined  with  these  nets.  Thousands  of  yards,  yes  hundreds 
of  miles,  of  this  netting  is  found  along  the  streams  of  Albernjirle  Sound  and 
( 'howan  River.  They  have  proved  a  very  successful  mode  of  catching  all  varieties  of 
fish  coming  into  our  waters  A  well-rigged  sfUind  seine  is  worth  about  $5,000.  It 
has  3,800  yards  of  netting,  depth  to  suit  location  fished  It  has  about  8,000  corks  on 
the  top  line;  they  c(jst  8  to  lOceiits  each.  We  in  former  years  caught  sturgeon  in 
great  numbers,  but  in  the  jjast  few  years  nets  by  the  mile  fill  Albemarle  ,sou)id  all 
through  the  summer  or  .sj)avvning  sea.son— the  object  being  to  capture  the  female 


OYSTERS    AND    THE    OYSTER    SURVEY.  247 

sturgeon  to  take  the  roe  (or  egg)  from  wliicli  cavaire  is  made,  and  we  then  ship  it  to 
Russia  and  Germany.  This  has  destroyed  the  mother  tish  until  the  catch  is  hardly 
remunerative  I  have  sold  hundreds  of  sturgeon  for  $1  each,  that  $10  worth  of  cavaire 
could  have  been  made  from.     The  roe  had  no  value  at  that  date.  ~"" 

The  rope  used  is  from  2^  to  B|  inches  in  circumference  and  costs  about  20  cents  per 
pound.  About  50  coils  200  yards  long  being  necessary  to  equip  said  seine,  and  is  such 
as  that  used  for  whaling  purposes  by  the  New  England  whalers  for  fifty  years  past — the 
very  best  Russian  hemp  being  necessary.  The  catch  of  shad  diminished  until  indi- 
vidual effort  to  hatch  shad  artificially  at  the  headwaters  of  Albemarle  Sound,  followed 
by  State  and  then  United  States  work,  to  a  certain  extent  replenished  our  exhausted 
waters,  and  this  season  our  seine  caught  77,225  shad.  Unfortunately  the  State  aban- 
doned its  work  and  the  United  States  saw  fit  to  transfer  its  labors  to  more  northern 
waters. 

Albemarle  catch  of  sliad,  is  about _ 5,000,000 

Herring  catch 150,000,000 

Siped  bass 50,000  lbs. 

Perch - 200, 000 

Sturgeon 10,000  fish. 

I  send  you  a  card  which  I  copied  from  the  sales-book  of  Messrs  Lanphear  &  Haff, 
Fulton  Market,  New  York,  in  1888,  showing  how  shad  are  stored,  handled,  and  how 
North  Carolina  compared  with  other  States  all  near  New  York,  Florida  excepted. 

North  Carolina 250,606 

Florida 12,772 

Virginia   3,776 

New  York 66,416 

Connecticut - 26,472 

Maine - 2,588 


OYSTERS  AND  THE  OYSTER  SURVEY. 

The  abundance  in  which  oysters  were  found  along  the  Atlantic  coast 
of  the  United  States,  and  their  superi-r  excellence,  made  them  at  once,- 
upon  the  settlement  of  the  country  along  the  waters  which  provided 
them,  an  article  both  of  subsistence  and  luxury.  With  the  increase  of 
interior  population  and  the  provision  of  quick  and  ready  means  of 
transportation,  the  use  of  them  was  enormously  enlarged,  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  them,  in  all  the  forms  of  use,  became  co-extensive  with 
the  American  continent,  and  was  not  confined  to  that  broad  area,  for 
Europe,  in  the  diminution  of  its  own  supplies,  and  also  in  its  recogni- 
tion of  the  superiority  of  the  American  oyster,  has  been  for  a  number 
of  years  a  large  consumer.  The  consequence  is  the  depletion  of  many 
grounds  once  regarded  as  inexhaustible,  the  diminution  in  other  waters 
where  diminution  seemed  impossible,  followed  by  the  assertion  of  local 
rights,  attempts  at  the  exclusion  of  invading  trespassers,  contention, , 
bloodshed ;  finally  legislative  action  and  the  effort  to  define  rights  by 
law,  with  power  to  assert  and  secure  them  by  force;  and  all  this  made 
necessary  because  human  nature  knows  no  moderation  in  the  use  of  the 
abundant  free  gifts  of  Providence,  or  in  the  attainment  of  that  which 
leads  to  competency  or  wealth. 

The  attempt  to  retrace  the  steps  of  past  waste  and  neglect  is  what 
invarial)ly  follows  in  locking  the  stable  door  after  the  horse  has  gone — 
vain  regrets  and  fruitless  self-reproach.    All  the  deep  research  of  science, 


248  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

all  the  costly  experiments  of  artificial  breeding,  all  the  labor  of  plant- 
ing new  territory  of  waters,  will  not  br  ng  back  to  Connecticut,  New 
York,  Maryland'and  A'irginia  the  store  they  wasted  and  the  abundance 
they  so  universally  squandered. 

It  happens  that  there  remains  one  treasure-house  not  yet  plundered, 
one  great  water  granary  whose  doois  are  not  yet  thrown  wide  open. 
North  Carolina,  overlooked  and  despised  in  the  Eldorado  of  the  Chesa- 
peake, now,  when  the  glories  of  the  latter  are  fading,  is  found  to  possess 
what,  with  prudence,  patience,  legislative  wisdom  and  local  self-control, 
may  be  converted  into  a  field  quite  as  prolific  as  the  once  teeming  oyster 
waters  of  Maryland  and  Virginia.  Its  sounds,  its  bays  and  its  cieeks, 
extending  along  the  coast  for  a  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  give  promise 
of  natural  conditions  that  will  assure  in  time  as  large  a  product  as  ever 
existed  in  other  waters.  Some  of  these  North  Carolina  w^aters  are  too 
much  freshened  by  the  influx  of  fresh-water  rivers  to  have  been  the 
habitat,  of  the  native  oyster,  or  to  be  made  available  as  beds  for  artificial 
culture;  but  in  all  the  other  waters,  which  exist  in  the  largest  propor- 
tion, to  which  the  salt  waters  of  the  ocean  have  ready  ttccess,  the  native 
oyster  has  always  been  found,  and  of  great  excellence.  In  the  depletion 
of  the  oyster  grounds  of  the  Chesapeake  and  other  waters,  the  enter- 
prise of  I  he  oystermen  of  those  localities  was  on  the  alert  to  save  their 
industries  from  ruin,  and  the  invasion  of  the  North  Carolina  waters 
was  rewarded  with  the  discovery  of  a  large  relatively  untried  area.  To 
check  what  threatened  to  eflect  here  what  had  been  done  elsewhere,  and 
to  secure  the  people  of  North  Carolina  in  the  possession  of  their  rights, 
the  aid  of  legislation  was  earnestly  invoked. 

One  of  the  first  decisive  steps  taken  was  the  enactment  of  a  law,  rati- 
fied March  11,  1885,  directing  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  to  cause 
a  survey  to  be  made,  both  of  natural  oyster-beds  and  private  oyster 
gardens,  with  reference  to  the  culture  of  shellfish.  Under  the  act  the 
Governor  was  requested  to  ask  the  Federal  Government  to  detail  some 
person  in  the  public  service,  expert  in  such  matters,  to  make  the  neces- 
sary surveys.  In  compliance  with  the  request,  Lieut.  Francis  Winslow, 
U.  S.  N.,  was  detailed.  Jle  has  made  two  reports,  extracts  from  which 
are  here  made. 

In  his  first  report  he  says  the  waters  subject  to  the  juri.>«diction  of 
North  Carolina  consist  mainly  of  twelve  sounds,  extending  along  the 
coast  and  connected  with  each  other  from  the  Virginia  line  in  Lai.  30° 
33'  W.  to  the  Cape  I^Var  Hiver  in  Lat.  34°  53'  W.  These  sounds  are 
('Urrituck.  Albemarle,  Koanoke,  Croatan,  Pamlico,  Core,  IJogue.  Stump, 
Topsail,  Middln,  iVhisonhoro  and  Myrtle,  and  four  e-tuaries  known  as 
Bogue,  Bear,  Brown  and  New  Inlets.  The  harbor  of  Beaufort  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  form  other  inlets.  Some  of  these  sounds, 
such  as  Albemarle  and  Currituck,  being  principally  fresh  water,  are 
excluded  from  the  consideration  of  oyster  culture.  Albemarle  Sound 
receives  the  waters  of  several  large  rivers,  au'l  contains  within  its  own 
limits  5,631,400,000  tons  of  fresh  water.  The  other  waters  are  all  .suit- 
able to  the  grow'h  of  theoy.ster  in  iis  native  bed?,  or  for  its  [)ropagation 
by  planting.     Lieutenant  Winslow  says: 


OYSTERS    AND    THE    OYSTER    SURVEY.  249 

Oysters  will  and  do  live  on  bottoms  of  almost  directly  o|)i)osite  character.  They  are 
found  on  sand-shoals  and  in  soft  mud,  on  rocks,  stumps  and  trees,  and  in  clay  and 
along  the  borders  of  marshes.  In  the  same  way  they  exist  in  water  that  is  almost 
fresh,  and  in  other  cases  where  it  is  almost  salt  The  study  of  other  localities  has 
given,  however,  a  standard  for  comparison,  and  it  may  be  accepted  that  the  bottom 
should  be  as  nearly  as  possible  of  sand  or  other  substance  sufficiently  hard  to  supi)ort 
the  oyster,  covered  by  a  light  layer  of  sticky  mud.  The  principal  necessity  is  that 
the  oyster  should  not  be  smothered  either  by  sinking  into  the  bottom  or  by  the  shift- 
ing of  the  sand  or  otlier  superficial  stratum.  In  addition  to  the  cliaracter  of  the  bot- 
tom itself,  it  must  be  ascertained  whether  there  is  on  it  too  great  an  amount  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life  to  permit  the  Introduction  of  new  forms.  In  other  words,  some 
study  of  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the  bottom  must  be  made.  Generally  speaking,  antago- 
nistic forms  of  life  can  be  eradicated,  just  as  weeds,  worms  or  bugs  can  be  removed 
from  a  tract  of  upland,  but  in  some  cases  the  practical  difficult}'  of  doing  so  is  so  great 
as  to  render  the  locality  unsuitable  for  experiment.  The  scrutiny  of  the  bottom  had, 
therefore,  the  ascertainment  of  the  foregoing  particulars  as  an  end.  To  accomplish 
it  the  ground  has  been  felt  over  with  a  pole. 

In  and  her  report  Lieutenant  AVinslow  gives  the  following  informa- 
tion: 

Prior  to  1886  the  oyster  business  of  the  State  was  in  a)i  absolutely  insignificant  con- 
dition. With  an  area  suitable  for  oyster  cultivation  exceeding  that  of  any  State  in 
the  Union  except  Virginia  and  Maryland,  North  Carolina  received  less  than  one-half 
per  cent,  of  the  aggregate  profits  of  the  gi-eat  oyster  industry  of  the  country,  and 
contributed  less  than  one  per  cent,  to  its  capital  While  the  industry  in  every  other 
oyster-growing  State  employed  thousands  of  people,  and  in  Maryland  and  Virginia 
tens  of  thousands,  this  State,  by  a  very  liberal  estimate,  gave  occupation  but  to  one 
thousand  persons  The  positions  and  areas  of  the  natui-al  beds  were  unknown  to  a 
considerable  extent.  Equal  if  not  greater  ignorance  as  to  the  possibilities  of  cultiva- 
tion was  even  more  prevalent.  A  few  persons  had  attempted  to  increase  the  supply 
under  the  provisions  of  The  Code,  but  the  law  was  of  such  a  character  as  to  encourage 
the  destruction  of  the  natural  beds  through  their  direct  appro])riation  or  through  dep- 
redations upon  them  Complaint  was  general,  both  from  those  who  worked  the  gen- 
eral public  and  common  property  and  from  tho.se  who  were  endeavoring  to  cultivate 
private  grounds.  The  oysters  of  the  State  were  unknown,  except  locally,  and  finally 
the  business  paid  little  to  the  owners  and  nothing  to  the  State. 

Since  the  survey  has  been  in  progress,  knowledge  of  the  possibilities  of  the  locality 
and  of  the  business  has  become  difi"used  among  the  citizens,  not  only  of  North  Caro- 
lina, but  of  other  States,  and  the  effect  has  been  to  induce  a  large  number  of  people 
to  enter  grounds.  In  Dare  County  forty-three  entries  have  been  made,  comprising 
at  least  twenty-six  thousand  acres.  In  Hyde  County  three  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
entries  have  been  made,  comprising  fully  twenty-six  thousand  acres;  and  in  Carteret 
County,  ninety  entries,  comprising  nine  hundred  acres.  Of  these  entries  sixty-eight 
are  by  residents  of  other  States,  and  four  hundred  and  four  by  residents  of  North 
Carolina.  Entries  are  still  being  made  and  warrants  for  surveys  are  still  coming  in, 
and  in  the  course  of  another  year  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  territory  may  be  doubled. 
But,  as  it  is,  an  aggregate  of  fifty-three  thousand  acres  entered  is  a  sufficiently  grati- 
fying indication  of  the  value  of  the  survey  and  of  the  legislation  it  brought  about. 

The  cultivation  of  this  immense  tract  will  require  a  great  deal  of  time,  money, 
and  labor  Thousands  of  people  must  l>e  employed  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  spent.  But  every  dollar  so  expended  goes  to  increase  the  material  wealth  of 
the  State,  and  the  employment  of  every  man  insures  additional  comforts  and  conve- 
niencies  to  the  families  of  the  citizens  of  the  seaboard  counties.  It  is  with  i^leasure  that 
I  have  noted  that  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  to  venture  in  this  new  field,  is  a 
citizen  of  Hyde  County,  who  is  reported  to  have  abandoned  a  profitable  kimber  busi- 
ness for  the  purpose  of  engaging  in  oyster  growing,  and  who  has,  I  understand,  the 
intention  of  making  as  his  original  outlay  a  sum  about  equal  to  the  total  value,  prior 
to  1886,  of  the  whole  oyster  in<lustry  of  the  State. 

The  natural  beds  have  not  only  been  defined  and  located,  but  under  the  recent  law 
much  additional  area  adjacent  to  them  has  been  set  apart  and  excepted  from  entry. 
These  areas  are  the  public  grounds,  and  by  law  they  include  the  natviral  beds  and  suf- 
ficient area  adjacent  and  surrounding  them,  to  ])rovide  for  their  natural  expansion. 
The  provision  for  allowance  for  natural  expansion  has  been  liberally  construed,  as 
will  be  seen  by  the  following  summary  of  the  areas  of  the  natural  beds  and  public 
grounds; 


250  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

A rea  A rcn 

Chitnljj.  I' ublic  Grounds.  Natural  BciU. 

Dare           4.604.16  3,118 '^5 

Hyde                   - 6,(S9I.94  1.642.90 

Pamlico - 4,495.61  4B7  00 

Carteret - 4,561.40  1.012.50 

Total   20,553.11  5,210.65 

Or  the  area  of  tlie  public  grounds  exceeds  that  of  the  natural  beds  by  15.843  acres 
The  natural  beds  of  that  portion  of  the  State  not  under  the  operation  of  the  new  law 
comprise  3,381  acres  ;  or  the  total  acreage  of  natural  beds  is  8,591. 

The  area  reserved  from  the  common  fishery  is  thus  ami)le  for  all  time  to  come,  and 
as  these  areas  are  excepted  from  entry,  and  as  they  include  the  natural  beds,  not  only 
is  an  entry  or  appropriation  of  a  natural  bed  prevented,  but  no  person  can,  prac- 
tically, enter  near  a  natural  bed.  At  the  same  time,  as  the  groinids  open  to  the  gen- 
eral fishery  are  defined  and  known,  the  private  cultivator  is  free  from  depredation 
iinder  guise  of  the  exercise  of  the  common  righ  of  fishery.  Thus  the  source  of  com- 
plaint of  all  classes  interested  is  removed. 

The  area  entered  will  bring  into  the  State  Treasury  over  $12,000,  a  net  gain  over 
the  entire  expenses  of  over  ifcT.OOO,  and  the  taxes  that  will  eventually  accrue  to  the 
coimties  and  State  may  amount  in  the  course  of  a  comparatively  few  years  to  fully 
$10,000  per  annum. 

Legislation  is  now  ample,  if  enforced,  to  proiect  and  promote  the 
oyster  interests  of  the  State.  It  is  unlawful  to  use  any  instrument  but 
hand-tongs  to  take  oysters  from  State  grounds,  violation  of  which  is 
indictable  as  a  misdemeanor.  Only  residents  of  the  State  are  permitted 
to  use  instruments  or  boats  upon  State  grounds;  and  non-residents, 
upon  conviction  of  violation  of  tiiis  provision,  are  to  be  fined  not  less 
than  $500,  or  be  confined  in  the  county  jail,  to  be  hired  out  by  the 
Commissioners  of  the  county  for  a  term  not  less  than  one  year.  Resi- 
dents must  obtain  a  license  for  the  use  of  boats,  and  individuals  desir- 
ing to  catch  oysters,  whetlier  on  tlieir  own  account  or  that  of  employer?, 
must  take  out  from  the  Clerk  of  the  Court  an  annual  license,  paying 
for  the  same  $2.50  and  a  Clerk's  fee  of  twenty-five  cents,  and  must  make 
oath  that  he  has  been  a  bona  fick  resident  of  the  State  for  twelve  months 
next  preceding  the  application  for  license.  Oysters  are  to  be  culled  on 
the  public  grounds  when  taken,  and  oysters  of  a  specified  size  are  to  be 
returned  to  the  waters  on  the  public  grounds.  Oysters  must  not  be 
taken  from  the  public  grounds  between  the  first  day  of  May  and  the 
first  day  of  October.  The  control  of  the  oyster  interest  is  placed  under 
charge  of  one  Chief  Commissioner,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor, 
and  to  hold  office;  and,  to  enable  the  Commissioner  to  discharge  his 
duties  of  visiting  the  grounds  and  repelling  or  capturing  interloj^ers,  a 
patrol  boat  is  provided,  with  authority  to  use  arms  when  necessary. 

The  oysters  taken  at  the  different  points  in  the  sounds  and  estuaries 
vary  much  in  size,  shape  and  flavor.  The  New  River  oysters  are  mucli 
prized  for  size  and  flavor,  and  probably  are  the  best  known  abroad. 
But  the  markets  of  Wilmington,  Newbern,  Washington  and  other  points 
are  sup|)lied  from  their  various  oyster  grounds  with  shellfish  of  a  ([uality 
not  inferior  to  those  taken  at  New  River.  With  the  care  in  cultivation, 
and  the  protection  given  by  law,  it  is  only  a  (piestion  of  time  when  the 
waters  of  North  Carolina  will  yield  as  abundantly  as  the  waters  of  the 
Chesapeake  have  done,  and,  in  (piality  of  the  oystir,  with  no  inferiority. 


NURSERIES,  ETC.  251 

The  diamond-back  terrapin  is  found  in  all  the  coast  country,  a  deli- 
cacy in  such  demand  and  of  such  value  as  to  have  become  the  subject 
of  legislative  protection  and  of  artificial  cultivation.  ^m.m: 

Clams  abound,  and  are  now  recognized  as  valuable  members  of  the 
family  of  shellfish.  They  are  now  shipped  in  large  quantities  from 
Newbern  and  Morehead  City. 


NURSERIES,  Etc. 

The  happy  intermediate  position  of  North  Carolina,  between  the 
extremes  of  semi-arctic  and  semi-tropical  temperature,  the  needed 
degree  of  cold  to  check  continuous  exuberance  of  growth,  but  the 
absence  of  that  degree  of  cold  fatal  to  arrested  and  dormant  vitality — 
on  the  other  hand,  earl}^  awakening  to  the  vivifying  influences  of  spring 
and  subsequent  continuous  but  not  excessive  heats — early  suggested  it 
as  possessing  the  proper  medium  of  climate  for  the  propagation  of  the 
fruits  of  the  temperate  zone,  and  also  the  locality  from  which  they 
might  be  disseminated  over  a  wide  area,  not  only  in  this  but  in  adjoin- 
ing States.  Therefore  it  was  that  a  long  time  ago  the  Lindleys  of  Chat- 
ham County,  the  Westbrooks  of  Guilford,  and  other  initiative  pomolo- 
gists,  began  the  cultivation  of  nursery  fruit  trees  and  the  business  of 
distributing  them  through  the  country,  delivering  them  most  frequently 
from  their  own  wagons  in  the  court-house  towns  during  court  weeks. 
The  excellence  of  the  fruits  obtained  in  this  way  was  so  decided  as  to 
induce  the  entry  into  the  business  of  others  in  other  parts  of  the  State, 
and  also  the  distribution  of  nursery  trees  throughout  other  States.  As 
the  facilities  for  transportation  by  railroad  were  given,  so  Avas  the 
business  enlarged;  so  that  now  the  young  trees  from  North  Carolina 
nurseries  find  favor  everywhere  in  the  South  and  West,  and  to  some 
extent  in  the  North.     The  largest  of  these  now  is  unquestionably  the 

POMONA   HILL   NURSERY, 

Two  miles  west  of  Greensboro,  on  the  railroad  at  the  point  where  the 
Salem  branch  leaves  the  North  Carolina  division  of  the  Richmond  and 
Danville  system,  and  its  broad  acres*  of  young  plants  or  of  bearing 
orchards  are  plainly  seen  from  the  trains  as  they  pass  through  them. 
Mr.  J.  Van  Lindley  is  the  proprietor.  It  is  a  business  of  such  magni- 
tude as  to  exact  the  best  business  skill  and  capacity  in  its  management, 
in  culture,  in  sagacious  selection  of  sorts,  in  packing,  in  shipping,  in 
correspondence,  in  keeping  of  accounts — in  other  words,  in  efficient 
office  work,  and  this  is  largely  entrusted  to  Mr.  W.  C.  Boren  and  his 
brother,  Mr.  G.  S.  Boren. 

The  Pomona  Hill  Nurseries  originated  in  1874,  Mr.  Van  Lindley 
becoming  the  successor  of  Mr.  Joshua  Lindley,  who  might  claim  to  be 
the  pioneer  in  the  nursery  business  in  the  State,  though  contiguous  to 
the  Lindley  nurseries  were  the  large  and  once  succe:rsful  nurseries  of 


252  HANI>-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Westbrook  &  Mendenhall.  There  are  nine  hundred  acres  in  the  tract, 
of  which  iifty  are  in  bearing  orchards,  giving  practical  illustration  of 
the  character  of  the  varieties  of  fruits  originating  and  propagated  here. 
There  are  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  in  young  trees,  waiting  their 
turn  for  shipment — one  or  two  yt-ars  old,  as  may  be  desired  ;  and  many 
acres  are  sown  in  fruit  seed  to  lurnish  stocks  for  budding  and  grafting. 
There  are  annually  sown  in  drills  eighty  bushels  of  peach  stones, 
dropped  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  use  of  the  fruit ;  and  from  four  to 
five  bushels  of  apple  seed,  which  are  all  imported  from  France.  The 
cultivation  is  conducted  with  the  utmost  care  and  with  scientific  skill; 
it  need  not  be  added,  with  perfect  fidelity.  Thus,  the  business  has 
grown  to  the  extent  of  creating  a  demand  in  all  the  Southern  States, 
from  Delaware  south,  and  west  as  far  as  Arkansas.  The  sales  last  year 
(1891)  amounted  to  $75,000.  The  li^t  of  nursery  trees  and  plants 
inc  ude  the  best  variety  of  apples  (winter  and  summer),  peaches  (from 
the  earliest  to  the  latest),  pears,  plums,  cherries,  apricots,  nectarines, 
grapes;  small  fruits — strawberries,  raspberries,  blackberries,  currants, 
gooseberries  and  others.  Much  attention  is  paid  also  to  testing  the 
value  of  new  foreign  varieties  of  fruits,  berries  and  nuts,  ornamental 
trees,  shrubbery  and  plants. 

There  are  other  nurseries  in  tlie  State,  but  none  so  large;  and,  in  the 
absence  of  precise  information,  the  Pomona  Hill  Nurseries  may  be 
cited  as  an  illustration  of  what  may  be  done  with  skill  and  energy. 

BULBS  AND    FLOWERS. 

These  succeed  so  well  that  there  is  not  a  large  town  in  the  State  which 
has  not  its  nursery  and  green-house  for  the  supply  not  only  of  its  locality, 
but  remote  points.  Aslieville,  Charlotte,  Fayetteville,  Greensboro,  Ral- 
eigh, Wilmington,  Wilson  and  other  places  have  profited  by  the  skill 
ot  their  florists.  Of  bulbs,  climate  and  soil  appear  to  offer  special  favor. 
At  Magnolia,  on  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad,  the  tuberose 
is  planted  to  the  extent  of  many  acres,  and  with  the  result  that  annually 
many  hundred  barrels  of  tubers  are  shipped  to  sup))ly  Northern  and 
European  demand.  The  value  of  this  industry  to  this  State  is  so  great, 
and  the  adaptability  of  our  soil  and  climate  to  its  perfection  so  marked 
and  peculiar,  that  the  following,  from  the  American  AgricuUnrist,  is 
quoted  for  the  encouragement  of  tho-e  who  might  wish  to  embark  in 
the  culture  of  the  tubero.se: 

"The  late  John  Henderson,  of  Flushing,  L.  I.,  was  the  first  to  engage 
in  the  cultivation  of  tuberoses  for  comniercial  purposes.  Previous  to 
1856  all  the  tuberose  bulbs  were  grown  in  Italy  *  *  *  At  first  his 
largest  output  would  not  exceed  an  acre,  and  for  several  years  the  bulbs 
sold  at  from  six  to  eight  dollars  per  hundreii.  His  success  tempted 
others  on  Long  Island  into  the  ])usiness,  and  all  made  such  reputation 
that  the  imports  of  Italian  bulbs  fell  off.  *  *  *  At  the  cb'se  of  the 
war  some  of  the  dealers  saw  in  North  Carolina  a  congenial  home  for 
the  tuberose,  and  comrapnced  its  growth.  There  the  sea.sons  are  suf- 
ficiently long  for  the  bulbs  to  perfect  their  growth  in  one  year  from  the 


THE    GRAPE    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  253 

sets,  which  they  will  not  do  at  the  North  in  less  than  two.  The  climate 
on  the  coast  is  most  favorable  to  the  development  of  the  bulb,  and  the 
soil  in  all  respects  well  adapted  to  its  perfection.  This  enterprise  has 
completely  revolutionized  the  tuberose  industry.  The  South,  able  to 
produce  as  good  or  better  bulbs  in  one  year  than  the  Norlh  can  in  two, 
has  it  all  her  own  way.  Southern  growers  are  able  to  sell  tuberose 
bulbs  at  the  same  price  per  thousand  as  the  growers  at  the  North  must 
have  per  hundred,  the  difference  being  caused  by  the  expense  of  pro- 
tection and  loss  by  waste  in  carrying  ttie  bulbs  through  the  winter." 

HERBS. 

To  North  Carolina  belongs  the  peculiar  honor  of  providing  the  largest 
supplies  and  the  greatest  variety  of  herbs  in  use  for  botanic  medicines 
gathered  in  the  United  States.  In  this  State  the  business  of  gathering 
them  is  in  the  hands  of  one  firm — the  Messrs.  Wallace,  of  Statesville. 
The  members  of  the  firm  are  specially  trained  for  the  business,  having 
received  a  thorough  botanical  education.  They  employ  three  hundred 
agents  in  contracting  for  supplies  of  herbs,  barks,  etc.,  and  the  number 
of  collectors,  most  of  them  living  among  the  mountains,  is  innumer- 
able; and  the  capital  inv^ested  amounts  to  several  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  The  collections,  as  they  come  in,  are  stored  in  a  series  of  large 
warehouses,  and  sorted  and  prepared  for  shipment  to  all  parts  of  the 
civilized  world.  On  the  Atlantic  slope  of  the  Blue  Ridge  there  are 
said  to  grow  no  less  than  2,500  varieties  of  plants  used  in  the  Materia 
Medica.  A  large  number  of. these  come  into  the  hands  of  the  Messrs. 
Wallace.  The  yearly  business  of  their  house  nearly  reaches  two  mil- 
lion pounds  in  leaves,  barks  and  roots.  Some  of  the  collections  include 
many  of  the  most  familiar  weeds  and  the  bark  and  roots  of  the  most 
common  trees  and  shrubs.  This  will  be  illustrated  by  the  following 
extract  from  the  order-book  of  the  firm,  covering  one  month's  business: 

"Fifty  thousand  pounds  of  mandrake,  5,000  pounds  black  cohosh 
root,  12,000  pounds  of  wild-cherry  bark,  24,000  of  sassafras  bark,  6,000 
of  birch  bark,  8,000  of  red  clover  blossoms,  12,000  of  pennyroyal  leaves, 
9,000  of  catnip  leaves,  8,000  of  stramonium  leaves,  8,000  of  witch-hazel 
leaves,  8,000  of  yellow  dock,  6,500  of  'queen's  delight'  root,  8,000  of 
unicorn  root,"  etc. 

Ginseng,  snake-root,  lobelia,  blood-root,  mandrake  and  many  others 
find  a  ready  market  with  the  AVallaces.  The  ginseng  is  the  rarest,  the 
most  valuable  and  practically  the  most  useless,  and  finding  sale  only 
to  the  Chinese,  who  set  upon  it  a  fabulous  value.  The  collectors  are 
paid  from  |2  to  ^3  a  pound,  and  in  China  it  is  worth  its  weight  in  silver. 


THE  GRAPE  IN   NORTH  CAROLINA. 

The  glowing  accounts  given  by  the  adventurers  who  first  landed  upon 
the  North  Carolina  coast,  and  the  subsequent  confirmation  of  these 
reports  by  the  settlers,  extending  in  the  course  of  time  their  observa- 


254  HAND-BOOK   OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

tions  from  the  sea-coast  to  the  mountains,  might  have  suggested  that 
the  whole  territory  would  eventually  become  the  land  of  the  vine  and 
the  fruitful  source  of  wines  that  would  equal  in  abundance  and  excel- 
lence the  mighty  flow  of  the  European  vineyards.  Such  was  not  the 
reality,  and  it  is  only  in  recent  years  that  grape-culture  and  wine- 
making  have  been  thought  worthy  of  attention.  The  inhabitants 
seemed  to  have  relied  upon  the  spontaneous  bounty  of  nature  for  their 
store  of  grapes,  and,  in  the  processes  of  wine-making,  adopted  the  rude 
simplicity  applicable  to  the  making  of  cider.  The  outcome  was  not 
wine,  but  grape-juice  developed  into  a  coarse,  strong  or  sweet  beverage, 
without  delicacy,  without  aroma,  and  repugnant  to  refined  tastes  and 
cultivated  palates.  Failure  to  produce  good  wine  was  attributed  to  the 
native  grapes,  not  to  the  methods  of  manufacture;  and  vignerons,  who 
were  not  a  few,  and  connoisseurs,  of  whom  there  were  many,  pronounced 
unanimously  and  emphatically  against  the  American  grape.  The  adapt- 
abilit}'^,  both  of  soil  and  climate,  to  grape-growing  and  wine-making, 
was  so  apparent  that  persistent  efforts  were  made  through  many  years 
to  achieve  success  in  both.  Adlum  in  Washington  City,  Herbemont 
in  Columbia,  S.  C,  Longworth  in  Cincinnati,  were  among  the  most 
determined  pioneers  in  individual  efforts  to  solve  the  problem.  Nor 
were  united  efforts  on  a  large  scale  wanting;  for,  after  the  downfall  of 
Napoleon,  a  colony  of  his  associated  Generals,  and  also  of  his  soldiers, 
feeling  themselves  no  longer  safe  in  France,  emigrated  to  America,  and 
by  them  a  large  colony  was  planted  in  Alabama,  between  the  Alabama 
and  the  Tombighee  Rivers,  with  purpose  to  renew  the  habits  and  refine- 
ments of  La  Belle  France  in  the  depths  of  the  American  wilderness. 
The  name  of  their  town,  Marengo,  is  the  only  suggestion  remaining  of 
a  scheme  which  met  with  ignominious  failure;  for  they,  like  all  others 
who  attempted  the  cultivation  of  the  grape,  despised  the  native  and 
depended  upon  the  foreign  gra[)e. 

Perhaps  to  Ijongworth  is  due  the  recognition  of  the  value  of  at  least 
one  American  grape — the  Catawba;  and  his  success  with  that  induced 
investigation  into  the  character  of  other  grapes,  stimulated  by  the  dis- 
astrous failures  in  the  attempted  general  diffusion  and  use  of  the  Euro- 
pean grapes,  and  in  late  years  made  imperative  by  the  universal  disas- 
ters to  the  Enroj)ean  vineyards — the  natural  consequences  of  disease 
and  infirmities  of  centuries  of  artificial  training  and  habits.  The 
European  grape  is  now  discarded  as  a  vineyard  grape,  except  in  the 
dry  climates  of  New  Mexico  and  California,  and  the  promise  is  now 
good  that  the  Atlantic  slope  of  the  United  States  will  become  the  great 
grape-growing  and  wine-making  section  of  the  world,  in  which  the 
stock  is  new,  the  plants  healthy  and  vigorous,  and  the  product  satisfac- 
tory, if  def)endence  upon  foreign  standards  of  tas'e  is  cast  off;  for  it 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  American  grape,  however  improved 
and  refined,  has  a  character  jiiid  flavor  of  its  own,  and  the  attempt  to 
imitate  the  European  wines  in  full  perfection  only  results,  like  all 
imitations,  in  failure  or  imperfection. 

The  leading  native  varieties  from  which  the  immerous  sub-varieties 
have  been  produced  are  the  common  summer  grape  (  F/V/.s  yKs/n'rt7/.§), 


THE    GRAPE    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  255 

from  which  come  the  Warren,  Herbemont,  Leuoir,  the  Lincohi  and 
others — perhaps,  also,  the  Delaware,  but  this  is  not  well  identified.  The 
Lincoln  is  a  distinctively  North  (.'arolina  grape,  originating,  it  is 
believed,  on  the  South  Fork  of  the  Catawba  River,  in  Lincoln  County. 

The  fox  grape  (  V.  Lahvusca)  is  found  in  the  Middle  and  Western 
Sections  of  ihe  State.  From  this  many  valuable  cultivated  varieties 
have  been  produced.  The  earliest  of  these  is  perhaps  the  Isabella 
grape,  first  cultivated  near  Wilmington  as  far  back  as  1805.  But  the 
origin  of  this  grape  as  an  American  grape  has  never  been  accurately 
determined,  and  as  it  is  not  now  in  favor,  controversy  about  it  is  lan- 
guid. There  is  no  dispute  about  the  Catawba  grape  originating  on 
Cane  Creek,  in  Buncombe  County,  and  brought  into  notice  about  1801 
by  Captain  Clayton,  and  attracting  Lon^worth's  attention  in  1826.  As 
a  table  and  wine  grape,  it  is  now  so  universally  known  as  to  need  no 
further  reference,  except  to  the  fact  that  it  is  clearly  of  North  Carolina 
origin.  From  this  grape  come  numberless  cultivated  varieties,  among 
which  are  the  Concord,  Hartford  Prolific,  Niagara,  Martha;  and  the 
number  of  new  forms  increases  with  each  year.  From  this  family 
come  the  choicest  American  table  and  wine  grapes. 

The  muscadine  {V.  Vulpina)  is  of  extensive  diffusion,  from  ALaryland 
and  Kentucky  as  far  south  as  the  Gulf  and  Texas,  and  known  by 
various  names,  such  as  muscadine,  bullace,  fox  grape,  mustang,  etc. 
In  North  Carolina  it  appears  on  the  coast  to  the  very  edge  of  the  surf, 
and  up  among  the  vahe^^s  of  the  mountains.  In  this  State  alone  have 
any  varieties  originated  that  commend  them  to  introduction  into  the 
vineyard,  and  these  varieties  are  the  sports  of  nature,  not  the  outcome 
of  art;  for  no  grape  is  so  intractable  and  impatient  of  artificial  treat- 
ment as  ihe  muscadine.  It  must  ramble  and  clamber  at  will,  and  it 
submits  to  no  trimming  and  pruning.  A  vine3^ard  of  this  grape  is 
therefore  unlike  any  other — the  vines  trained  on  broad  flat  scaffolds, 
enlarged  to  accommodate  each  season's  growth  until  they  spread  over 
an  area  of  from  a  quarter  to  half  an  acre.  Indulged  in  its  freedom,  it 
amply  rewards  the  care  given  to  it.  It  is  never  sick,  it  never  fails  in 
its  crop,  and  it  is  most  profuse  in  its  yield,  the  product  of  a  single  vine 
in  wine  being  olten  from  one  to  five  barrels. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  valuable  varieties  of  the  V.  Vulpina  have, 
so  far,  originated  only  in  North  Carolina,  and  a  still  more  remarkable 
fact  that  these  sports  are  of  comparative  recent  discovery.  The  best 
known  and  the  most  widely  diffused  of  them — the  Scuppernong — does 
not  appear  to  have  been  known  antei^or  to  1774,  when  the  Rev.  Charles 
Pettegrew  discovered  it  in  the  lowgrounds  of  the  Scuppernong  River, 
in  Tyrrell  County,  and  transplanted  several  of  the  wild  vines,  and  from 
these  the  present  abundant  vineyards  have  originated.  Another  account 
assigns  the  discovery  to  two  brothers  named  Alexander,  of  the  same 
county,  at  about  the  same  period.  Within  the  past  half-cenlui'v  other 
varieties  have  been  discovered  growing  wild,  among  which  are  the 
Meish,  the  Flowers,  and  later  still,  the  James.  The  Scuppernong  is  an 
amber-colored  berry,  growing  in  loose  clusters  of  from  six  to  ten.  The 
other  varieties  have  the  same  habit,  but  are  dark-skinned.     None  of 


256  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

these  grapes  flourish  north  of  this  State,  nor  will  they  thrive  much  far- 
ther west  than  Haw  River,  in  Alamance  County,  though  single  vines 
are  sometimes  cultivated  beyond  that  jioint. 

VINEYARDS. 

Within  the  past  twenty-five  years  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
creation  of  vineyards  for  the  manufacture  of  wnne,  and  also,  to  greater 
extent,  to  the  supply  of  the  Northern  city  markets  with  the  freshly- 
gathered  grape.  This  last  purpose  has  been  greatly  stimulated  by  the 
rapid  enlargement  of  railroad  facilities,  which  enable  growers  to  place 
their  fruit  on  the  market  quickly  and  in  good  order,  and  the  ability 
also  to  anticipate  by  a  fortnight  or  more  the  growers  north  of  them,  and 
to  succeed  in  regular  sequence  the  growers  in  the  States  south  of  them. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  all  the  vineyards  in 
the  State,  because  of  the  impracticability  of  giving  information  without 
a  special  effort,  at  the  expense  of  much  time  and  considerable  cost  to 
obtain  it.  It  must  suffice  to  give  some  examples  of  what  is  being  done, 
and  these  must  serve  as  illustrations.  Some  of  the  oldest  and  most  noted 
vineyards  in  North  Carolina  are  worthy  of  note.     Among  these  is  the 

MEDOC  VINEYARD, 

In  Halifax  County,  long  ago  known  as  the  Brinkleyville  Vineyards, 
owned  by  the  venerable  Sidne}'  Weller,  a  respected  Methodist  preacher. 
Originally  the?e  vineyards  were  planted  with  the  Scuppernong  vine 
only,  and  the  place  was  a  favorite  resort  for  the  whole  country  for  many 
miles  around.  Much  Scuppernong  wine  was  made  here,  and  it  was 
said  that  from  one  vine  alone  five  barrels  of  wine  were  annually  made. 
The  vineyard  became  the  property  of  the  Messrs.  Garrett,  was  much 
enlarged,  and  additions  made  to  the  variety  of  grapes.  The  acreage 
of  the  vineyard  is  about acres,  and  the  product  is  almost  exclu- 
sively applied  to  the  manufacture  of  wine.  In  favorable  seasons  about 
175,000  gallons  are  made,  the  product  being  both  still  and  sparkling 
wines.  A  good  brandy  is  also  made.  The  equi[)ment  for  wine-making 
is  full  and  of  the  most  perfect  character,  and  the  wine  is  in  high  repute 
and  finds  ready  sale  throughout  the  United  States. 

THE  TOKAY  VINEYARD 

Is  situated  about  three  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Fayetteville,  and  is 
the  property  of  Col.  Wharton  J.  Green,  and  is  said  to  be  the  largest 
vineyard  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  containing  about  one  hundred 
acres  in  vines.  These  vines  embrace  all  the  cultivated  varieties  of  the 
V.  Vvlptna  family,  and  some  of  the  V.  Lahrumi — of  the  first,  the  Scup- 
pernong, Meish,  and  Flowers;  of  the  second,  the  Norton,  Cynthia,  Her- 
man, Martha,  Champion,  and  Concord;  the  vineyard  also  containing 
Ives,  Delaware,  Cottage  and  others.  Wine-making  is  the  leading  object 
in  the  work  of  the  vineyard,  though  there  are  large  shipments  of  fruit. 
The  equipment  for  making,  storing,  bottling  and  shipment  of  the  wine 
is  complete.     The  character  of  the  wine  is  well  established.     A  recent 


VT, -Tr,":" 


-  ^<'«-  i' 


VICTORIA    REGIA,   GROWN    IN    OPEN    AIR    AT    WINSTON. 


THE    GRAPE    IX    NORTH    CAROLINA.  257 

order  for  25,000  gallons  was  made  by  a  Memphis  ( renn.)  merchant  for 
twenty-three  cents  a  gallon  more  than  was  paid  for  a  corresponding 
California  wine.  The  annual  product  is  from  75,000  to  100,000  gallons. 
A  writer  in  a  Northern  journal  of  influence  speaks  of  the  wines  of  the 
Tokay  Vineyard  as  follows : 

"In  general  characteristics  they  resemble  the  Spanish  and  Madeira 
wines,  and  the  Sweet  White  is  not  unlike  the  California  Mission,  though 
much  more  delicate  in  bouquet,  and,  when  given  proper  age,  approaches 
the  closest  to  a  fine  old  Madeira  of  any  wine  yet  produced  in  this  country. 
This  wine  will  constitute  a  good  basis  for  a  sherry  wine  when  made  with 
that  view,  and  we  have  seen  some  samples  of  such  from  these  vineyards 
which  strongly  resemble  Old  Brown  Sherry,  and  would  do  credit  to  any 
gentleman's  sideboard  and  private  cellar.  Other  samples,  again,  made 
Irom  the  Flowers,  a  black  Scuppernong  seedling — a  dry  wine — resemble 
certain  red  wines  of  Hungary  already  highly  esteemed  in  this  country, 
and,  as  a  sweet  wine,  bears  a  close  relation  in  character  to  Spanish  Red." 

The  Bordeaux  Vineyard,  three  or  four  miles  west  of  Fayetteville, 
the  property  of  Mr.  James  M.  Pearce,  is  planted  largely  with  the  Scup- 
pernong, of  which  there  are  500  vines  in  bearing — a  very  large  num- 
ber, when  the  space  occupied  by  each  vine  is  considered.  The  grapes, 
in  their  season,  are  shipped  largely,  principally  to  western  points  in 
this  State.     The  vineyard  also  contains  other  grapes. 

Large  and  valuable  vineyards  flourish  near  Wilmington,  the  most 
important  of  which  is  that  of  Captain  Nobles. 

Southern  Pines,  in  the  south-west  corner  of  Moore  County,  is  the 
location  of  many  hundred  acres  of  vineyards,  destined  in  time  to  be 
probably  the  most  extensive  in  the  State.  The  vines  now  coming  into 
bearing  are  all  of  the  choicest  American  grapes,  and  are  cultivated 
with  care  and  skill.  These,  together  wath  the  extensive  orchards  of 
peach  trees  and  the  large  plantings  of  small  fruits,  are  destined  to  give 
great  prominence  to  a  section  only  recently  valued  for  its  pines  and 
their  products. 

West  of  the  Blue  Ridge  there  is  as  yet  no  large  culture  of  vineyards. 
Capt.  J.  K.  Ho}  t,  at  Engadine,  fifteen  miles  west  of  Asheville,  has  a 
vineyard  of  several  acres,  from  which  he  makes  a  wine  of  very  high 
repute.  At  the  foot  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  at  Old  Fort,  Mr.  Golay,  a  Swiss 
gentleman,  has  a  large  and  productive  vineyard,  noticeable  from  the 
circumstance  that,  with  European  contempt  of  American  grapes,  he 
stocked  his  vineyard,  at  great  cost,  with  European  grapes,  and  lost  them 
all,  as  they  brought  with  them  the  seeds  of  European  disease.  He  has 
replaced  them  with  the  native  grape. 

Through  many  other  counties  in  the  State — Davie,  Forsyth,  Guilford, 
Alamance,  Warren,  Vance,  and  in  nearly  all  the  eastern  counties,  where 
the  Scuppernong  family  best  thrives  —  the  interest  in  viticulture  is 
annually  increasing  and  the  industry  is  becoming  a  very  general  one. 

Wake  County  is  much  interested  in  the  subject,  and,  as  it  is  the  only 
one  that  has  a  grape-growers'  association,  it  is  the  only  one  from  which 
approximately  full  returns  are  obtainable.     The  following  information 
has  been  furnished  : 
17 


258  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

B.  P.  Williamson  has  ten  acres  in  vineyard.  His  vines  are  chiefly 
Concord  and  Ives.  The  grapes  are  shipped  to  Northern  markets  to  the 
extent  of  2,000  baskets  during  the  season.  The  season  begins  about  the 
15th  of  July,  and  continues  until  the  middle  of  August;  beginning  when 
the  Florida  season  ends,  and  a  fortnight  before  that  of  Virginia  begins. 

J.  M.  Heck  has  thirty-five  acres  in  Ives,  Concord  and  Cnampion,  the 
latter  not  very  successful.  He  ships  about  8,000  baskets  of  ten  pounds 
each  annually.  His  vineyard,  as  well  as  most  of  the  AVake  County 
vineyards,  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Raleigh.  He  has  also  a  vineyard  of 
twenty  acres  near  Ridgeway,  in  Warren  County,  from  which  he  ships 
about  5,000  baskets.  About  250  baskets  to  the  acre  is  apparently  the 
average  yield,  and  the  net  sales  amount  to  from  $50  to  $100  per  acre, 
according  to  season  and  condition  of  market.  Tliis  explanation  will 
apply  to  tiie  vineyards  hereafter  mentioned. 

H.  Mahler  has  about  twenty  acres,  the  product  of  which  is  largely 
converted  into  wine.  George  Shellem,  twenty  acres;  wine  and  ship- 
ping. Batchelor  &  Womble,  twelve  acres;  shipping.  H.  Bilyeu,  fifteen 
acres  of  Ives,  Concord  and  Delaware;  shipping.  C.  B.  Edwards,  twenty 
acres,  Moore's  Early,  Delaware,  Niagara,  Ives  and  Concord;  shipping. 
V.  Koys;er,  fifteen  acres,  Ives  and  Concord;  shipping.  B.  G.  Cowper, 
twenty-five  acres,  Ives  and  Concord ;  shipping.  M.  A.  Parker,  Ives  and 
Concord;  shipping.  J.  B.  Burwell,  Ives  and  Concord;  shipping.  Dr. 
Lewis,  Ives  and  Concord;  shipping.  Davis  cfc  Bradshaw,  Phil.  H. 
Andrews,  Dr.  Fuller,  Ives  and  Concord;  shipping.  C.  D.  U[)church, 
ten  acres,  Ives.  George  Cole,  ten  acres,  Ives  and  Concord;  ship))ing. 
S.  Otho  Wilson,  twenty  acres,  Ives  and  Concord;  shipping.  Fred.  Wat- 
son, twelve  acres,  Ives,  Concord  and  Delaware.  Robert  Strong,  ten  acres, 
Ives,  Concord,  Delaware  and  Moore's  Early.  Whiting  Brotliers,  twenty- 
-five  acres,  Ives,  Concord,  Delaware  and  Niagara.  W.  li.  Pace,  eight 
acres,  Ives  and  Concord.  Ferguson,  fifteen  acres,  Ives,  Concord  and 
Martha.  Je=S8  Jones,  five  acres,  Concord.  In  the  vicinity  of  Wake 
Forest,  B.  F.  Montague  has  ten  acres,  Ives  and  Concord;  James  Moore, 
twelve  acres,  Ives  and  Concord. 

Mr.  John  Robinson,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  has  ten  acres  in 
the  vicinity  of  Raleigh,  and  Judge  Walter  Clark,  ten  acres  in  Halifax 
County,  planted  with  Ives. 

The  favorite  grapes  are  Ives  and  Concord;  other  varieties,  though 
cultivated  to  some  extent,  are  mostly  neglected.  Most  of  the  vineyard- 
ists  ship  their  crops,  as  soon  as  matured,  to  the  Northern  markets. 
Only  a  few  convert  them  into  wine,  except  when  the  m:irket  is  over- 
stocked. 

In  all,  there  appears  to  be  359  acres  in  cultivation  in  the  vicinity  of 
Raleigh,  with  an  ainiual  crop  of  89,750  baskets. 


RESORTS — HOTELS.  259 


RESORTS-HOTELS. 

Since  the  facilities  of  travel  have  been  multiplied  throughout  North 
Carolina,  making  the  sea-side,  the  middle  section  and  the  mountains 
equally  accessible,  with  quickness  and  comfort  to  all  its  people,  there 
has  been  remarkable  and  rapid  development  throughout  the  State  of 
such  places  as  assure  recreation,  rest  and  health  to  all  visitors,  and  to 
such  degree  of  excellence  as  not  only  to  attract  our  own  people,  but  to 
influence  the  choice  of  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  Union.  Xor  is 
alleviation  from  the  heat  of  summer  the  only  motive  that  governs  the 
tide  of  travel  or  the  search  after  health.  The  winter  airs  are  relatively 
so  balmy  as  to  woo  the  Northern  invalid  to  inhale  them,  and  in  the 
mountain  section,  somewhat  colder,  so  dry  and  invigorating  as  to  com- 
mend themselves  to  the  scientific  judgment  of  the  most  intelligent 
Northern  physicians  as  the  surest  hope  of  the  sufferer  from  pulmonary 
or  debilitating  complaints  Therefore,  in  winter  and  in  summer,  the 
whole  State  is  becoming  the  health  resort  for  those  beyond  its  lines,  and 
for  those  within,  a  pleasant  and  economical  substitute  for  those  costly 
summer  jaunts  which  fashion  or  necessity  once  compelled  to  Saratoga, 
Cape  May  or  the  Virginia  Springs. 

THE   SEA-SiDE   RESORTS 

Are  of  comparatively  recent  prominence,  because,  until  within  a  few 
years,  they  have  been  practically  more  remote  than  those  of  distant 
States.  Now  they  are  accessible  quickly  and  conveniently,  by  either 
steamboat  or  railroad,  and  are  all  made  so  attractive  by  the  comforts, 
the  elegances  and  the  amusements  provided  by  hotels  of  the  first  class 
as  to  attract  to  them  continuous  throngs  of  satisfied  summer  visitors. 

NAG'S  HEAD, 

At  the  head  of  Roanoke  Sound,  and  at  the  eastern  end  of  Albemarle 
Sound,  is  on  the  strip  of  banks  which  interpose  between  those  inland 
waters  and  the  rage  of  the  outside  ocean.  It  occupies  the  site  of  the 
inlet  which  once  lay  open  to  navigation,  and  through  which  the  first 
discoverers  and  attempted  colonists  sought  the  North  Carolina  shores. 
This  inlet  has  long  since  been  closed  by  the  resistless  forces  of  con- 
tinuous storms;  and  where  the  waters  once  flowed,  a  sandy  strip,  inter- 
spersed with  high  billowy  dunes,  drifted  from  sj)ot  to  spot  by  the  might 
of  the  winds,  uplifts  itself,  enlivened  here  and  there  by  groups  of 
cedars,  scattered  pines  and  verdant  patches  of  the  bright  evergreen 
yopon.  Amid  these  the  hotel  is  situated,  in  such  position  as  to  com- 
mand a  view  of  the  outer  and  the  inner  waters,  and  to  control  all  the 
varied  amusements  of  bathing,  boating,  fishing  and  other  aquatic  sports. 
This  place  is  reached  from  the  mainland  by  steamboats  from  Elizabeth 
City  and  other  points  on  the  waters  of  Albemarle  Sound,  and  is  a 
favorite  summer  resort,  sought  most  largely  by  our  own  people  and 
those  from  the  adjacent  parts  of  Virginia. 


260  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

BEAUFORT  HARBOR, 

On  the  shores  of  which  are  the  towns  of  Beaufort  and  Morehead  City, 
has  become  the  seat  of  much  summer  enjoyment,  made  attractive  by  a 
number  of  fine  hotels  and  excellent  boarding-houses,  all  so  situated  as 
to  command  all  the  elements  of  pleasure  or  of  health  to  be  drawn  from 
sea-breezes,  boating,  bathing,  fishing  and  all  the  enjoyments  of  a  sea- 
side resort.  Beaufort  harbor  is  open  lo  the  sea,  yet  protected  from  its 
violence  ;  and  all  the  amusements  and  methods  of  recreation  are  enjoyed 
in  perfect  safety.  Beaufort  is  on  the  east  side  of  the  harbor,  about  three 
and  a  half  miles  across  from  Morehead  City.  There  are  several  fine 
boarding-houses  at  this  place,  but  no  large  hotel,  none  having  been 
built  to  replace  the  great  Atlantic  Hotel,  destroyed  in  the  hurricane  of 
1879.  Morehead  Cit}^,  on  the  peninsula  between  Calico  Creek  and  the 
waters  of  Newport  River  on  the  north  and  Bogue  Sound  on  the  south, 
is  the  terminus  of  the  Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  Railroad,  and  at 
the  point  of  the  peninsula  stands  the  new  Atlantic  Hotel,  one  of  the 
largest  structures  of  the  kind  in  the  State — a  building  of  six  hundred 
feet  front  and  three  stories  high,  with  outbuildings  and  annexes  to  meet 
every  want.  This  is  the  great  summer  resort  for  the  people  of  the 
interior,  and,  during  the  season,  is  filled  with  visitors  from  all  parts  of 
the  countr}'.  It  is  here  that  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Teachers'  Assem- 
bly is  held,  the  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Tobacco  Association,  and 
conventions  of  different  kinds  The  surf-bathing  on  the  south  side  of 
the  banks  is  exceptionally  fine  and  safe,  the  boating  facilities  ver}'^ 
ample  and  good,  the  fishing  unequalled  in  success  and  excitement,  the 
sea-breezes  delightful  and  invigorating,  and  there  is  a  total  absence  of 
sandflies  and  mosquitoes.  With  the  Newbern  Hotel  and  some  superior 
boarding-houses,  Morehead  City  offers  one  of  the  most  charming  and 
satisfactory  sea-side  resorts  on  the  whole  Atlantic  coast. 

ISLAND   BEACH   HOTEL, 

On  Wrightsville  Sound,  eight  miles  from  Wilmington,  is  comparatively 
a  new  resort,  though  Wrightsville,  for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  with 
its  fine  water-front  and  its  groves  of  live-oaks  and  cosy  cottages,  has 
been  the  annual  summer  home  of  many  Wilmington  families.  Its 
eligibility  pointed  it  out  as  the  proper  summer  encampment  of  the 
North  Carolina  State  Guard,  and  it  is  now  so  annually  occupied. 

Island  Beach  Hotel  is  on  an  Island  between  the  ramified  streams  of 
tide-water  which  here  diversify  the  sound,  and  is  a  hotel  of  first  class, 
in  size,  capacity  and  management,  with  fine  and  safe  surf-bathing  and 
all  the  other  conveniences  and  pleasures  of  a  sea-side  resort.  It  is 
reached  by  a  railroad  from  A\'ilmington,  which  makes  trips  apportioned 
to  the  public  convenience. 

CAROLINA   BEACH    HOTEL 

Is  of  similar  character.  It  is  reached  by  a  steamer  which  runs  to  a 
landing-place  fifteen  miles  below  W^ilmington,  on  the  Cape  Fear  River, 
and  from  the  landing  a  railroad  crosses  the  narrow  peninsula,  a  mile 


RESORTS — HOTELS.  261 

and  a  lialf,  to  the  beach.  Not  far  below  the  hotel  are  the  remains  of 
the  famous  Fort  Fisher,  the  scene  of  the  heaviest  bombardment  known 
in  warfare. 

The  above  comprise  the  most  frequented  resorts  on  tlie  coast.  South- 
port,  formerly  Smithville,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  has 
long  been  a  summer  resort,  and  a  very  pleasant  one,  but  not  exclusively 
so,  for  it  is  a  port  of  entry,  a  business  town,  and  also  a  county  seat, 
thereby  creating  a  conflict  between  the  leisure  and  pleasure  of  a  sum- 
mer resort  and  the  exactions  of  work  and  business. 

MOUNTAIN    RESORTS. 

Since  railroads  have  made  the  difficult  ascent  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
made  access  to  every  part  of  the  mountain  country  easy  and  speedy, 
the  whole  mountain  region  may  be  regarded  as  one  vast  health  and 
pleasure  resort,  in  winter  as  well  as  in  summer.  Portions  of  the  moun- 
tain region,  indeed,  did  not  wait  for  the  advent  of  the  railroad.  The 
fame  of  its  healthfulness,  the  certain  charms  of  its  summer  climate,  and 
the  known  beauty  and  grandeur  of  its  scenery  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury ago  drew  annual  summer  pilgrimages  to  the  Warm  Springs,  now 
the  Hot  Springs,  Asheville,  Henderson ville  and  Brevard,  and  these  two 
last,  or  rather  locations  in  their  vicinity,  became  veritable  South  Caro- 
lina colonies,  with  permanent  and  elegant  improvements  of  fine  resi- 
dences, ornamental  grounds  and  highly-improved  farms.  The  charm 
of  scenery  has  never  abated,  the  fame  of  climate  has  never  deceived 
the  trust  placed  in  its  healthful,  invigorating  ioflaences,  and  now,  since 
easy  access  is  had  to  it  from  every  part  of  the  United  States,  Western 
North  Carolina  has  become  the  sanitorium  and  the  sanitarium  of  the 
whole  country. 

Of  the  localities  become  most  favored  as  resorts  for  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  the  following  are  the  most  prominent: 

HOT  SPRINGS, 

On  the  French  Broad  River,  thirty-seven  miles  below  Asheville,  has 
long  been  known  and  valued  for  the  virtues  of  its  thermal  waters.  It 
was  known  early  in  this  century,  and,  until  recently,  as  the  Warm 
Springs— the  waters  of  the  springs  bubbling  up  in  profuse  volume  near 
the  river,  with  a  temperature  of  from  98  to  104,  and  were  of  marked 
efficacy,  used  as  baths,  for  rheumatism,  and  were  visited  by  large  num- 
bers of  invalids,  even  when  to  reach  them  involved  long,  difficult  and 
painful  journeys.  Hotel  succeeded  hotel  in  different  degrees  of  excel- 
lence— succeeded  each  other  as  successive  conflagrations  made  place  for 
improved  structures,  with  increased  conveniences  and  luxuries,  culmi- 
nating at  last  in  the  present  magnificent 

MOUNTAIN    PARK  HOTEL, 

In  size,  elegance  and  management,  surpassed  by  few  in  the  United 
States.  The  scenery  is  very  fine,  the  hotel  being  situated  in  an  open- 
ing, among  the  mountains,  of  a  beautiful  valley,  about  three-fourths  of 


262  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 

a  mile  in  width  and  two  or  three  in  length,  around  which  are  towering 
heights.  The  rashing  river  is  on  one  side,  and  the  bold,  impetuous 
Spring  Creek  on  the  other.  The  climate  is  dry  and  exhilarating,  and 
there  is  here  a  remarkable  absence  of  fog  at  all  times,  though  they  may 
cloud  the  valley  above  and  below.  The  bathing  in  the  waters  is  made 
attractive  and  also  effective  by  the  provision  of  marble  baths  in  well- 
constructed  bath-houses,  and  also  by  the  addition  of  a  large  swimming- 
pool.  Besides  its  use  as  hot  baths,  the  water  is  used  for  drinking,  as  an 
efficient  agent  in  removing  dyspepsia,  malarial  troubles,  gout,  riienma- 
tism  and  nervous  prostration.  The  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad 
(the  Paint  Rock  branch)  runs  through  the  valley,  and  two  daily  pas- 
senger trains  connect  with  all  parts  of  the  country. 

THE   HAYWOOD  WHITE  SULPHUR  SPRINGS 

Are  in  Haywood  County,  near  the  town  of  AYaynesville,  and  near  the 
line  of  the  Murphy  branch  of  the  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad, 
connecting  by  two  daily  passenger  trains  with  the  railroad  systems  of 
the  whole  country.  The  spring  which  gave  name  to  the  property  is 
found  on  the  southern  slope  of  Mount  Maria  Love,  at  an  elevation  of 
2,845  feet  above  the  sea.  The  spring  itself  is  a  distinct  sulphur  water, 
cool  and  pleasant  to  the  taste,  diuretic  and  diaphoretic  in  effect,  and 
highly  efficient  when  drank  on  the  premises.  It  does  not  bear  trans- 
portation. The  chief  charm  of  the  place  is  the  beauty  of  the  locality, 
embosomed  in  some  of  the  loftiest  summits  of  the  mnjestic  Balsam 
Mountains,  some  of  the  highest  of  which  confront  the  hotel — one  of 
which,  the  Richland  Balsam,  reaching  the  height  of  6,425  feet,  and  all 
the  others  reaching  6,000  feet.  In  front  of  the  hotel,  which  is  in  a  level 
well-shaded  plain  of  fifty  acns  or  more,  is  the  valley  of  Richland  Creek, 
running  back  in  deep  recesses  into  the  depths  of  the  mountains,  and 
through  which  runs  the  bold,  clear,  sparkling  Richland  Creek.  Beyond 
that  is  the  pretty  town  of  Waynesville,  itself  a  very  popular  summer 
resort,  standing  on  bold  hills  and  backed  and  overtopped  by  grand 
mountain  summits.  It  is  to  be  questioned  if  anywhere  in  the  moun- 
tains there  is  presented  a  more  splendid  or  charming  combination  than 
is  presented  by  this  mountain-locked  and  valley-cheered  landscajie  of 
the  Richland  A'alley.  There  is  a  large  and  well-arranged  hotel  at  the 
Springs,  filled  during  the  season  with  delighted  guests. 

ASHEVILLE 

Holds  peculiar  prominence  as  a  resort,  for  many  reasons.  It  has  been 
longer  recognized  as  the  possessor  of  splendors  of  scener}'  and  charac- 
ter for  health — it  long  ago  attracted  visitors  on  both  accounts — and  it 
was  sooner  prepared, than  other  towns  for  the  entertainment  of  guests 
and  the  care  of  the  invalid.  Its  reputation  was  fixed  when  access  was 
given  to  it  by  the  completion  of  the  railroads,  which  practically  come 
into  it  from  every  point  of  the  compass,  and  thus  there  folloW'-d  rapid 
increase  of  population,  of  the  throng  of  visitors,  and  in  amplitude  and 


RESORTS — HOTELS.  263 

completeness  of  hotels  and  other  abodes  for  the  well  and  the  sick.  As 
a  summer  resort,  its  excellence  has  never  been  gainsaid.  It  took  time 
and  experience  to  establish  faith  in  equal  aptitude  for  the  winter.  Now 
there  is  little  difference  between  one  season  and  the  other,  eminent  physi- 
cians everywhere  agreeing  that  in  the  dry  invigorating  air  of  the  moun- 
tains even  the  winter  cold  that  is  sometimes  experienced  is  beneficial 
rather  than  detrimental  even  to  the  pulmonary  invalid,  and  that  the 
winter  climate,  so  much  more  mild  than  that  of  the  North  and  North- 
west, from  which  so  many  of  the  visiting  invalids  come,  is  far  more  desir- 
able than  the  milder  but  damper  and  more  debilitating  air  of  Florida, 
once  the  almost  sole  refuge  for  the  sick  and  suffering.  And  when  to 
natural  advantages  were  added  the  assurance  of  the  best  medical  skill, 
and  also  all  the  conveniences  of  a  city — electric  street  railway,  electric 
lighting,  pure  water  and  other  indispensables — the  fitness  of  Asheville 
could  not  fail  of  recognition.  To  all  these  have  been  added  a  group  of 
hotels,  in  size,  elegance,  convenience  and  satisfactory  management,  not 
equalled  in  the  South  and  scarcely  surpassed  anywhere.  Of  these,  the 
principal  are: 

THE    BATTERY   PARK   HOTEL, 

On  an  eminence  in  the  very  midst  of  the  city,  overlooking  everything 
around  it,  but  as  secluded  as  if  miles  away  in  the  country — in  the  city, 
but  not  of  it — with  its  own  drives,  its  own  electric  cars,  and  everything  to 
make  the  visitor  feel  that  he  is  as  far  away  from  the  crowd  as  he  wislies, 
as  closer  to  it  as  his  business  or  his  convenience  makes  desirable.  The 
hotel  building  is  an  elegant  structure,  in  the  so-called  Queen  Anne 
style,  three  stories  in  height,  300x175,  and  with  broad  verandas  along 
the  front,  during  the  winter  enclosed  in  glass.  It  is  heated  by  steam 
and  lighted  by  electricity.  Further  mention  of  details  is  needless,  since 
a  house  of  this  character  is  presumed  to  be  perfect  in  all  its  appliances, 
which  is  just  presumption  in  this  case.  The  views  from  the  building 
from  all  directions  are  superb  and  the  source  of  unending  delight — 
over  town,  over  valley,  over  mountain  ranges — only  closed  by  the  blue 
outlines  of  far-distant  lines  which  blend  far  away  with  the  skies. 

THE   SWANNANOA   HOTEL, 

In  the  very  centre  of  the  city,  is  a  large  well-equipped  and  well-con- 
ducted four-story  brick  building,  now  standing  the  oldest  and  the 
pioneer  of  the  system  of  first-class  hotels. 

THE   KENILWORTH   INN, 

Two  miles  from  Asheville,  is  most  picturesquel}"  situated  on  a  height 
overlooking  the  Swannanoa  River  and  its  beautiful  valley.  Its  situa- 
tion and  its  architecture,  its  magnitude  and  its  beauty,  combine  so 
many  elements  of  the  romantic  that  the  imagination  is  taken  captive, 
and  is  more  apt  to  associate  it  with  the  visions  of  fancy  than  with  the 
realities  of  every-day  life.     Yet  it  is  a  very  substantial  and  a  very 


264  HAND-BOOK    OF    NOETH    CAROLINA. 

costly  fact,  for  it  is  of  great  capacity  and  built  with  liberal  disregard  to 
cost.  This  hotel  is  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  station  at  tlie 
junction  of  tlie  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad  and  the  Aslieville  and 
Spartanburg  road. 

OAKLAND    HEIGHTS   HOTEU 

A  mile  and  a  half  from  the  court-tiouse,  is  scarcely  less  beautiful  than 
Kenilworth  Inn,  nor  less  beautifully  situated  than  Battery  Park  Hotel; 
large,  capacious,  of  beautiful  design,  surmounting  a  high  but  gently 
sloping  hill,  and  overlooking  a  landscape  that  thrills  the  heart  with  the 
enjoyment  of  its  charms  This,  like  the  others  named,  is  justly  enti- 
tled to  the  rank  of  a  first-class  hotel. 

BELMONT  HOTEL* 

Is  a  fine  and  capacious  hotel,  four  miles  west  from  Asheville,  a  short 
di.stance  from  the  Murphy  branch  of  the  Western  North  Carolina  Rail- 
road, but  reached  more  conveniently  by  a  line  of  electric  railway 
extending  to  the  court-house  square  in  Asheville.  This  also  is  a  hotel 
of  superior  character.  It  is  on  the  site  of  the  old  hotel  made  famous 
in  the  days  of  the  Deaver  Sulphur  Springs,  long  since  a  trusted  and 
favorite  health  resort,  and  retaining  yet  its  high  reputation.  There  is 
no  resort  in  the  mountains  whose  situation  is  so  beautiful  and  com- 
manding, or  where  the  air  is  sweeter  or  purei". 

ARDEN   PARK, 

As  its  name  implies,  is  a  fine  park  of  several  hundred  acres  extent,  nine 
miles  south  of  Asheville,  on  the  Asheville  and  Spartanburg  Railroad. 
In  the  park  is  a  large  and  excellent  hotel,  and,  in  the  summer  season, 
largely  resorted  to  by  visitors,  mostly  from  the  extreme  South. 

HENDERSONVILLE, 

Henderson  County,  is  a  very  favorite  resort  for  visitors  from  South 
Carolina  and  States  farther  south.  With  its  wide,  level  streets,  its  pure 
water,  its  temperate  air  and  its  charming  scenery,  it  merits,  as  it  has 
always  received,  its  annual  tribute  of  appreciation  of  those  who  come 
year  after  year  to  renew  the  pleasures  and  benefits  of  preceding  experi- 
ence.    Adjoining  Hendersonvillo,  two  miles  to  the  south,  is 

FLAT   ROCK, 

A  place  jiroperly  to  be  designated  as  a  South  Carolina  colony,  selected 
more  than  half  a  century  ago  as  a  refuge  from  the  deadly  summer 
fevers  of  the  coast.  It  was  settled  and  adornpd  by  families  of  wealth 
and  refinement,  whose  tastes  directed,  and  whose  means  constructed, 
that  which  is  often  conceived  but  rarely  constructed — a  true  rufi  in  vrhe; 
elegant  homes,  .separated   from  each  other  by  grounds  adorned  with 

♦Since  destioyod  by  11  ro. 


RESORTS — PIOTEI.S.  265 

shrub.bery,  by  long  winding  avenues  of  the  feathery  white-pine,  by 
drives,  and  also  by  prosaic  fields  of  com  or  grain.  It  is  now  a  general 
rather  than  a  special  resort,  under  the  strokes  of  war,  which  shattered 
fortunes  and  prostrated  some  social  barriers.  There  is  a  good  hotel  at 
Flat  Rock.  This  place  is  also  on  the  Asheville  and  Spartanburg  Rail- 
road, and  has  its  own  convenient  station. 

BLOWING  ROCK, 

In  Watauga  County,  is  an  overhanging  precipitous  mass  on  the  very 
edge  or  crest  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  on  the  very  divide  shedding  the  wateis 
that  gather  on  its  top,  a  part  \o  feed  the  streams  that  begin  their  course 
towards  the  Mississippi,  and  a  part  to  trickle  down  into  the  affluents  of 
the  Yadkin.  This  elevation,  4  000  feet  above  sea-level,  and  being  an 
advanced  outpost  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  commands  wonderfully  extensive 
and  comprehensive  views  in  all  directions.  Not  only  is  the  Grandfather 
Mountain  (the  highest  and  most  majestic  of  all  the  Blue  Ridge  Moun- 
tains, a  little  lees  than  6,000  feet  in  height)  in  full  view,  but  the  endless 
succession  of  the  summits  of  that  chain,  on  the  flanks  and  in  the  rear, 
while  in  front  stretches  the  superb  valley  of  the  Yadkin  and  its  numer- 
ous tributary  valleys,  beyond  which  rise  the  Brushy  Mountains  to  lesser 
height,  but  with  picturesque  effect,  thus  relieving  that  unsatisfying  flat- 
ness in  the  landscape  so  olten  experienced  in  looking  over  wide  expanses 
from  a  superior  height.  Hanging  Rock  iteelf  has  a  height  of  about 
4,000  feet,  but  when  it  is  surmounted  there  is  found  the  often -repeated 
experience  in  tlie  Blue  Ridge  of  a  greatly  undulating  surface  and  every 
temptation  to  occupy  and  enjoy  it.  Therefore,  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
temptation  has  been  yielded  to,  and  the  summit  of  Hanging  Rock  is 
crested  with  dwellings  and  made  hospitable  with  resting-places  for  the 
wayfarer.  It  has  become  one  of  the  favorite  resorts  for  the  residents 
of  North  Carolina  towns,  for  it  is  not  far  to  reach,  and  it  has  equal 
advantages  with  all  others  in  the  command  of  the  grandest  and  most 
beautiful  of  mountain  scenery,  the  enjoyment  of  the  purest  and  most 
invigorating  air,  and  a  happy  liberation  from  the  feiters  of  fashion. 
The  resort  is  reached  by  stage  over  a  turnpike  from  Lenoir,  twenty-four 
miles  distant,  which  place  is  the  northern  terminus  of  the  Chester  and 
Lenoir  Narrow-Gauge  Railroad,  and  connecting  Lenoir  with  the  West- 
ern North  Carolina  at  Hickory,  twenty  miles  distant.  The  ascent  up 
the  mountain  is  tiy  an  easy,  safe  and  well-graded  road.  Not  far  from 
the  Rock  a  company  has  erec'ed  the 

GREEN    PARK  HOTEL, 

Large  and  commodious,  its  comforts  and  its  management  in  harmony 
wiih  its  magnificent  surroundings.  The  air  up  there  is  remarkably 
pure  and  invigorating,  and  the  water  used  in  the  hotel  and  other  points 
is  drawn  from  two  springs,  one  of  which  pays  its  little  tribute  to  the 
Yadkin,  which  becomes  the  Great  Pee  Dee,  and  the  other  info  New 
River,  which  grows  into  the  Great  Kanawha,  which  passes  into  the  Ohio. 


266  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


LINVILLE 

Is  a  new  resort  on  Linville  River,  in  Watauga  County,  on  the  top  of  the 
lilue  Ridge  and  among  its  grandest  scenery,  close  to  the  Grandfather, 
not  far  from  the  siill  loftier  Roan.  In  such  a  location,  it  is  superfluous 
to  speak  of  the  charms  of  Linville,  for  they  are  the  possession  of  the 
whole  mountain  region,  with  the  exception  that  here  perhaps  they  are 
dispo.sed  and  displayed  to  unusual  advantage.  A  fine  hotel  is  ready  to 
receive  all  visitors.  Linville  is  reached  by  way  of  Blowing  Rock  on 
the  south,  or  by  the  Cranberry  Railroad  and  stage  from  the  north. 

CLOUDLAND  HOTEL, 

In  Mitchell  (.'ounty,  6,342  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  is  on  the  very 
top  of  the  Roan  Mountain,  and  is  unquestionably  the  most  loftily  situ- 
ated first  class  hotel  in  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is 
kept  open  during  the  summer,  and  its  dry  invigorating  air  is  thought 
to  be  serviceable  in  hay-fever.  The  prospects  from  the  summit  are 
illimitable.  The  top  of  the  Roan  is,  for  seven  miles  in  length,  a  prairie, 
covered  with  grass,  wild  flowers  and  peculiar  shrubbery,  and  rambles 
over  it  are  much  enjoyed.  Cloudland  is  reached  by  a  narrow  gauge 
railroad  from  Johnson  City,  Ttnn.,  to  Cranberry,  N.  C,  and  thence  by 
stage  by  a  graded  road  to  the  top  of  the  mountains. 

HIGHLANDS, 

In  Macon  County,  another  favorite  resort,  is,  like  Blowing  Rock,  situated 
near  the  southern  verge  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  at  an  elevation  of  nearly  4,000 
feet,  and  commanding  a  boundless  prospect  to  the  south  and  east.  44ie 
mountains  break  down  on  their  south  faces  in  almost  sheer  precipices, 
that  on  Whiteside  Mountain  being  1,800  feet  perpendicular,  the  highest 
precipice  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  air  of  Highlands,  from 
its  great  elevation,  is  dry  and  exhilarating,  and  the  place  is  much 
resorted  to  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Southern  States.  Highlands  is  a 
colony  of  Northern  health-seekers,  but  the  population  is  a  blending  of 
tlip  two  sections  of  the  country. 

SOUTHERN    PINES, 

In  the  south-west  corner  of  Moore  County,  is  also  a  colony  of  Northern 
health-seekers,  but,  in  topography  and  location,  the  reverse  of  High- 
land.s,  the  country  being  flat  or  only  gently  undulating — among  the 
pine  forests,  and  intersected  by  streams  s-traggling  through  impenetra- 
ble marshes  of  cypress,  gum,  bay,  maple  and  other  swamp  trees,  but 
entirely  free  from  malaria,  the  country  being  noted  for  the  healthful- 
ness  of  its  people  and  the  numerous  instances  of  longevity.  This  char- 
acter, and  the  M'ell-known  inlluence  of  the  odors  of  the  ])ine  forest, 
induced  its  selection  as  a  health  resort,  and  a  c  'Usiderable  body  of 
Northern  men,  with  their  families,  have  there  made  their  homes.     Sev- 


MANUFACTURES    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  267 

eral  thousand  acres  of  land  are  owned  by  them,  and  very  extensive 
peach  orchards  have  been  planted,  very  large  vineyards  established,  the 
cultivation  of  small  fruits  undertaken,  and  the  barren-looking  pine 
woods  have  been  completely  transformed.  Many  handsome  dwellings 
have  been  erected,  churches,  school-houses  and  hotels  built;  also  work- 
shops and  factories.  A  very  large  hotel,  designed  in  size  and  elegance 
to  be  the  equal  to  any  in  the  State,  has  been  contracted  for.  It  is  becom- 
ing a  large  winter  resort  for  Northern  people,  both  for  health  and  recrea- 
tion. Southern  Pines  is  situated  on  the  line  of  the  Raleigh  and  Augusta 
Air-Line  Railroad,  and  is  quickly  accessible  from  every  point. 

Many  towns  in  the  State  are  becoming  winter  resorts  for  Northern 
visitors,  and  all  of  the?e  towns  have  provided  suitable  hotels  in  which 
to  entertain  them.  Winston  has  built  the  splendid  Zinzendorff,  than 
which  there  is  no  more  elegant  hotel  in  North  Carolina — beautiful  in 
architecture,  complete  in  appointments,  capacious  in  accommodation, 
luxurious  in  furniture  and  table,  and  superb  in  location.  Greensboro, 
also  the  entertainer  of  many  winter  visitors,  has  the  Benbow  and 
McAdoo  hotels;  Raleigh  has  the  well-known  Yarborough,  and  will  soon 
have  completed  the  capacious  Park  Hotel;  Goldsboro  has  the  well- 
known  Humphrey  House;  Wilmington,  the  Orton  and  the  Purcell; 
Rockingham,  the  llotel  Richmond;  Fayetteville,  the  Hotel  LaFayette; 
and  Charlotte,  the  Jkiford,  and  the  Central,  with  its  superb  annex,  the 
Brilmont,  perhaps,  of  its  capacity,  the  most  elegantly  furnished  and  the 
most  luxuriantly  and  conveniently  arranged  of  any  hotel  in  the  South. 

If  some  omissions  of  resorts  and  hotels  have  been  inadvertently  made, 
the  above  enumeration  will  yet  prove  the  existence  of  such  a  number 
of  them  as  will  certify  to  the  progress  of  North  Carolina  in  fields  in 
which  she  was  assumed  to  be  deticient,  and  give  assurance  to  the  health- 
and  pleasure-seekers  that  in  every  part  of  the  State  provision  has  been 
made  for  them. 


MANUFACTURES   IN    NORTH   CAROLINA. 

The  existence  in  most  parts  of  this  State  of  abundant  water-power, 
the  abundance,  value  and  variety  of  the  raw  material,  and  its  proximity 
to  favorable  seats  for  its  conversion  into  the  manufactured  fabric,  and 
the  natural  aptitude  of  the  people  for  mechanical  industries,  early  made 
North  Carolina  foremost  among  the  Southern  States  iti  the  character  of 
a  manufacturing  State.  In  iron  she  was  usefully  conspicuous  during 
the  revolutionary  war.  In  the  manufacture  of  textile  fabrics  she  may 
be  regarded  as  the  pioneer  in  the  South,  her  cotton  factories  antedating 
similar  works  in  both  Virginia  and  South  Carolina — her  factories,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  late  civil  war,  exceeding  those  of  any  State  in  the 
South.  The  war  swept  away  most  of  the  existing  establishments,  the 
invaders  aiming  to  inflict  a  deadly  blow  u[)on  the  industries  of  the 
State  as  one  of  the  surest  steps  at  subjugation — perhaps  with  an  eye 
also  to  the  suppression  of  that  rivalry  which   might  grow  formidable 


2G8  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

after  the  restoration  of  peace,  with  tlie  advantages  possessed  by  the 
South  in  climate,  in  the  cost  of  labor,  in  the  economy  of  living,  in  the 
saving  of  the  costs  of  transportation,  and  the  more  decided  advantage 
in  the  proximity  of  the  cotton  fields  to  the  fac  ories.  The  almost 
universal  destruction  of  the  existing  cotton  factories  was  a  stunning 
blow  to  North  Carolina,  but  not  a  fatal  one,  f )r  its  f)rce  was  the  same 
as  that  inflicted  upon  all  the  other  indu4ries  of  the  State,  corporate 
and  individual.  In  all  of  them  recuperation  began  from  the  same  dead 
level  of  universal  ruin  and  disaster.  The  sime  hopeful  look  into  the 
future,  the  same  undaunted  courage  in  accepting:  calamity,  the  same 
indomitable  energy  in  the  retrieval  of  losses,  the  same  steady  deter- 
mination to  persevere  against  the  most  formidable  obstacles  which 
make  up  the  North  Carolina  character,  had  splendid  illustration  wlien 
the  restoration  of  constitutional  government  and  the  restoration  of  wise 
financial  systems  made  it  possible  to  engage  again  in  those  industrial 
pursuits  demanding  the  application  of  capital  and  the  possession  of  the 
necessary  skill.  And  the  increase  of  the  manufacture  of  cotton  is  so 
great  as  to  have  become  a  prominent  feature  in  the  industrial  history 
of  the  State.  One  feature  is  not  to  be  overlooked  :  it  indicates  a  change 
in  systems  and  habits  onl}^  to  be  wrought  by  the  stern  lessons  of  adver- 
sity, and  must  be  accepted  as  one  of  the  undreamed-of  blessings  which 
sometimes  are  enforced  by  the  teachings  of  war.  Once  it  was  that  all 
the  skill  of  managers,  superintendents  and  machinists  was  introduced 
from  the  Northern  factories.  The  instances  were  rare  when  a  young 
Southern  man  applied  himself  to  the  acquisition  of  the  necessary  skill 
and  experience  to  lake  charge  of  a  factory.  Now  young  men  of  the 
South  make  no  hesitation  in  stepjiing  on  the  lowest  round  of  the  lad- 
der and  ascending,  b}-^  gradual  but  steady  step,  to  the  topmost  round, 
qualified  to  take  charge  of  all  the  intricate  and  complex  details  of  a 
business  for  which  the  habils  of  the  South  once  pronounced  them  inapt 
or  disqualified  by  social  position.  Northern  skill  and  experience  are 
not  discarded  or  excluded,  but  real  industrial  independenc^e  is  only 
attained  where  those  who  engage  in  enterprises  involving  the  ])roblems 
of  success  or  failure  are  themselves  capable  of  conducting  them.  Thus 
it  has  come  to  pass  that,  from  the  seaboard  to  the  mountains,  by  the 
use  of  steam  or  water-jiower,  cotton  factories  are  established,  created  by 
home  cajtital,  in  large  measure  conducted  by  home  skill. 

The  motive-po^'er  applied  is  either  water. or  steam.  Of  the  f  rmer 
the  aggregate  is  about  3,500,000  horse-powers.  Profc  ssor  Kerr  said  that 
"if  the  whole  of  this  were  employed  in  manufacturing,  it  would  be 
adequate  to  turn  14(),000,0()0  spindles.  The  water-power  of  North  Caro- 
lina would  manufacture  three  times  the  entire  crop  of  the  country, 
whereas  all  the  mills  on  the  continent  only  spin  one-quarter  of  it.  Put- 
ting the  crop  of  the  State  at  400,000  bales,  she  has  power  to  manufac- 
ture fifty  times  that  quantity." 

The  choice  between  water-power  and  steam  is  determined  by  the 
comparative  economy  in  the  US'^^  of  either  the  one  or  the  othpr.  In 
many  cases  there  will  be  no  hesitation  in  the  adoption  of  the  first,  for 
natural  conditions  at  once  emphasize  the  decision.     At  the  falls  of  the 


In  the 

Cotton 


"ield^ 


MANUFACTURES    IX    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


269 


Roanoke,  of  the  Tar  River,  on  the  rapid  decHvities  of  Haw  and  Deep 
Rivers,  on  never-failing  streams  in  Cumberland  and  Richmond  Coun- 
ties, on  the  enormous  forces  of  the  two  Catawbas,  and  perhaps  else- 
where, a  second  thought  would  never  be  given  to  the  application  of  any 
other  power  than  that  so  exhaustlessly  provided  by  nature  and  so  easily 
and  economically  controlled.  Elsewhere  steam  otlers  itself  as  the  ready 
and  convenient  agent  in  such  convenient  form  that  the  location  of  a 
new  factory  is  rather  made  subservient  to  the  convenience  of  transpor- 
tation than  to  the  character  of  the  power  to  be  applied ;  and  thus  it  is 
that  cotton  factories  are  found  everywhere  in  operation  in  the  State,  on 
the  flat  lands  and  by  the  sluggish  waters  of  the  eastern  section,  along 
the  bold  streams  and  the  abundant  water-falls  in  the  middle  section,  or 
on  the  more  turbulent  torrents  of  the  mountain  region. 

In  1870  the  census  reported  thirty-three  establishments,  which  was 
less  than  before  the  war.  In  1880  the  number  had  increased  to  forty- 
nine.  At  present  the  number,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  is  as 
follows.  Among  these  are  not  included  a  considerable  number  now  in 
course  of  construction : 


COTTON  MILLS  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA. 


COUNTY. 


'name  of  mill. 


OWNER  OR  MANAGER. 


Alamance Alamance  Mil  I E.  M.  Holt  &  Son 

Alamance Aui'ora L.  S.  Holt _ . 

Alamance Carolina J.  H.  &  W.  E.  Holt 

Alamance Glencoe  . . |W.  E.  &  J.  H.  Holt 

Alamance E.  M.  Holt  Plaid jW.  A.  Erwin,  Manager. 

Alamance Elmira jW.  L.  &  E.  C.  Holt 

Alamance Windsor  .  - [J.  H.  &  R.  L.  Holt 

Alamance Altamahaw iHolt,  Grant  &  Holt 


POST-OFFICE. 


L.  B.  &  L.  S.  Holt 
Julius  H.  Hardin,  Man'gr 
White,  Williamson  &  Co-i 
Falls  of  Neuse  Mfg.  Co  . . 

Thomas  M.  Holt 

J.  W.  Williamson  &  Son. 
Scott,  Donnell  &  Scott.. -| 

L.  B.  Holt 

Dixon  &  Dixon 

J.  S.  Scott,  Secretary 

W.  A.  Willard,  President 


Alamance Belmont 

Alamance Big  Falls 

Alamance Saxapahaw 

Alamance Swepsonville 

Alamance Granite  Mills 

Alamance Ossipee 

Alamance Sidney 

Alamance Oneida 

Alamance Snow  Camp 

Alamance Graham  Cotton  IMills 

Alamance Clover  Orchard 

Alexander Tavlorsville  ^Mills Alspaugh  Bros 

Alexander Cotton  Mills J.  L.  Davis  &  Co 

Anson Wadesboro  Mills I W.  J.  McLendon 

Buncombe C.  E.  Graham  Mills. ..IE.  C.  Earnhardt,  Supt... 

Bertie Harden  Mills [... 

Burke  .  ...  Dunavant {Dunavant  &  Reid 

Cabarrus Odell  Mfg.  Co I  J.  M.  Odell,  President . . . 

Cabarrus .Cannon  Mfg.  Co JJ.  W.  Cannon,  Secretary 

Caldwell Patterson's  Mills Gwyn,  Harper  &  Co 

Caldwell Granite  Falls. Granite  Falls  Mfg.  Co  . . . 

Catawba Monbo  Mfg.  Co.   C.  L.Turner 

Catawba Newton  Cotton  Mills. .  1 W.  H.  Williams. 

Catawba Maiden  Cotton  Mills.. JH.  F.  Carpenter  &  Son  .. 

Catawba Providence  CottonMillsH.  F.  Cai'penter  &  Son  .. 

Catawba Long  Island  Mills James  Brown 


Burlington. 

Burlington. 

Burlington. 

Burlington. 

Burlington. 

Burlington. 

Burlington. 

Eton  College. 

Graham. 

Big  Falls. 

Saxapahaw. 

iSwepsonville. 

Haw  River. 

Eton  College. 

|Graham. 

Graham. 

Snow  Camp. 

Graham. 

Clover  Orchard. 

Tavlorsville. 

Stony  Point. 

Wadesboro. 

Asheville. 

Windsor. 

Morganton. 

Concord. 

;Concord. 

Patterson. 

Granite. 

Monbo. 

Newton. 

Maiden. 

Maiden. 

Monbo. 


270  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

COTTON  MILLS  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA— Continued. 


COUNTY. 


NAME  OF  MILL. 


OWNER  OR  MANAGER. 


POST-OFFICE. 


Catawba Granite  Mfg.  Co Granite  Mfg  Co ;Hickory. 

Catawl)a Wilson's  Cotton  Mills   Rankin  &  Son 'Maiden. 

Chatham OdeU  Mfg.  Co Odell  Mfg.  Co Bynum's. 

Cleveland Belmont  Mills Miller  Bros Shelby. 

Cleveland Morgan  Falls  Co Morgan,  Cline  &  Co Double  Shoal. 

Cleveland Laurel  Mills H.  S.  Miller Shelby. 

Cleveland Cleveland  Mills,  No.  1.  H.  F.  Schenck .Cleveland  Mills. 

Cleveland Cleveland  Mills,  No.  2.  H.  F.  Schenck [Cleveland  Mills. 

Cleveland Kings  Mountain  Co. . .  Kings  Mountain  Co Kings  Mountain. 

Columbus Ornith J.  H.  Chadbourn,  Jr Chailbourn. 

Cumljerland Manchester  Mills J.  F.  Clark IManchester. 

Cumberland Fayetteville  Mills A.  A.  McKethan,  Treas..  Fayette vi He. 

Cumberland Hope  Mills,  No.  1 H.  C.  Gadsby,  Treas Fayetteville. 

Cumberland Hope  Mills.  No.  2 H.  C.  Gadsby,  Treas Fayetteville. 

Cuml)erland Cumberland O.  A.  Robbins Cumberland. 

Cumberland Bluff  Mills Needhani  Holmes Fayetteville. 

Davidson.. Wennonah  Mills W.  E.  Holt Le.xington. 

Durham Durham  Cotton  Mills. .  Odell  &  Co Durham. 

Durham Commonwealth  Mills  .  Corporation Durham. 

Durham Willard  Mfg  Co W.  H.  Willard Willardsville. 

Edgecombe Tarboro  Cotton  Mills. .  A.  M.  Fairlev Tarboro. 

Forsyth Arista  Cotton  Mills . . .  F.  &  H.  Fries Salem . 

For.sy th Winston  Cotton  Mills  . Winston. 

Franklin Laurel  Cotton  Mills. . .  Col.  J   F.  Jones Laurel. 

Gaston Lowell  Bluff  Mills J.  A.  Thompson  &  Co  ..  .;Mount  Hollv. 

Gaston A.  P.  Rhyne  Mfg  Co. .  A.  P.  Rhyne Mount  Holly. 

Gaston Tuckaseegee  Mills A.  P.  Rlivne Movmt  Hollv. 

Gaston Albion  Mfg.  Co W.  T.  LoVe j  Mount  Holly. 

Gaston Nims  Mfg.  Co E.  C.  Hutchinson,  Sec-iMount  Holly. 

Gaston ^Mountain  Island  Mills.  W.  T.  Jordan iMountain  Island. 

Gaston Stonesville  i\Iills Thomas  Gaither Belmont. 

Gaston McAden  ]\Iills R.  R.  Ray,  Secretary JMcAdensville. 

Gaston Gaston  ia  jMills George  Gray jGastonia . 

Gaston Harden  ]\[fg.  Co Oscar  Carpenter IHarden. 

Gaston Woodland  ]\If g.  Co Rush  Smith.  Manager  . . .  Lowell. 

Gaston Laurence  Mfg.  Co Rush  Smith,  Manager  ...Lowell. 

Gaston Cherryville  Mfg.  Co..T.  F.  Rhodes jCherryville. 

Gaston Laboratory  Mills D.  F.  Rhyne  &  Co Lowell . 

Gaston Willowbrook  Mfg.  Co.  Blair  Jenkins,  Secretary. ^Lowell. 

Gaston Dallas  Mfg.  Co J.  W.  Puett iDallas. 

Gaston Stanly  Creek  Mfg.  Co.  F.  L.  Pegram,  Secretary.: Stanly  Creek. 

Guilford Empire  Plaid  Mills O.  S.  Causev iHigh  Point. 

Guilford Minneola  Mfg.  Co Heath  &  Co |Gibsonville. 

(Uiilford Oakdale Cotton  Mills..  James  Ragsdale,  Sec j.Janiestown. 

(iuilford Greensboro  Cotton  M'ls  Hal.  M   Worth,  Sec iGreensboro. 

Guilford Mt.  Pleasant  Mfg.  Co.  W.  M.  Kline.  Secretary.. 'Brick  Church. 

(iuilford Mt.  Pleasant  Mfg.  Co.  W.  ^\.  Kline,  Secretary.  .Liberty. 

Guilford Crown  Mills R.  E.  Causev Greensboro. 

Guilford Mt.  Pleasant  Mfg.  Co.  W.  M.  Kline... iKlineville. 

Halifa.K Scotland  Neck  Cot. M'ls  N.  B.  Josey,  President..  .jScot land  Neck. 

Iredell Eagle  Mills William  J."  Colvert Eagle  :\lills. 

Iredell 'Turnershurg  Cot.  Mills  M.  Steele iTurnersburg. 

Iredell ! Nicholson's  Mills T.  A.  Nicholson  &  Son...  Nicholson's  Mills. 

Lincoln "Elm  Grove  Mills R.  S.  Hhini-hart.  Sec Lincolnton. 

Lincoln jLaboratory  Mills D.  F.  Rhyne  tt  Co Lincolnton. 

Lincoln jWillow  Brook  Mills...  B.  II    Sumner.  Manager.  Lincolnton 

Lincoln iMaclipelali  Mills Reinhardt  &  Son iReinhardt. 

Lincoln iDelmar  Mills |Lincolnton. 

Lincoln Drv  Shoals  Mills iLincolnton. 


I^1ANUFACTU]{ES    IN    NORTH    CAFiOMNA. 
COTTON  MILLS  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA— Continued. 


271 


COUNTY. 


NAME  OF  MILL. 


Mecklenburg 
Mecklenburg 
Mecklenburg 
Mecklenburg 
Mecklenburg 
Montgomery 


Mecklenburg  ...Victor  Cotton  Mills  ... 

Mecklenburg  . . .  Ada  Cotton  Mills 

Mecklenburg  . . .  Alpha  Cotton  Mills 

Mecklenburg  ...  iCharlotte  Cotton  Mills. 

..  Pineville  Cotton  Mills. 

..Carolina  Cotton  Mills  . 

..iVirginia  Cotton  Mills  . 

. .  Cornelius  Mills 

. .Linden  Mfg.  Co 

. .  Yadkin  Falls 

Montgomery Swift  Island  Mills 

Moore Jonesboi-o  Cotton  Mills 

Nash Rocky  Mount  Mills 

New  Hanover  . .  'New  Hanover  Cot.  M'ls 

Pasquotank iFowlei'  Cotton  Mills . . . 

Randolph Staly  Cotton  Mills 

Randolph  .. 
Randolph  .. 
Randolph  .. 
Randolph  .. 
Randolph  .. 
Randolph  .. 
Randolph  .. 
Randolph  ., 
Randolph  .. 
Randolph 
Randolph 
Randolph 


OWNER  OR  MANAGER. 


Randleman  Cotton  M'ls 
Naomi  Falls  Mfg.  Co.. 
J.  M.  Worth  Mfg.  Co.. 

Worth  Mfg.  Co 

Franklinville  Mfg.  Co. 

Randolph  Mfg.  Co 

Columbia  Mfg.  Co 

Enterprise  Mfg.  Co  ... 

Powhatan  Mills 

Island  Ford  Mills 

Plaidville  Mills 

Empire  Mills 

Richmond iRichmond  Mills 

Richmond ilda  Cotton  Mills 

Richmond JMidvvay  Cotton  Mills. . 

Richmond Ledbetter  Cotton  Mills 

Richmond jRoberdell 

Richmond Pee  Dee  Mfg.  Co 

Richmond Great  Falls  Mfg.  Co. 

Rockingham  . . .  Leaksville  Cotton  Mills 
Rockingham  . . .  IReidsville  Cotton  Mills 

Rowan 'Salisbury  Cotton  Mills 

Rowan .-  Vance  Cotton  Mills  . 

Rutherford Henrietta  Cotton  Mills 

Rutherford iForest  City  Mills 

Surry JElkin  Cotton  Mills . . 

Surry Laurel  Bluff  Cot.  Mills 

Surry Green  Hill  Cotton  Mills 

Union 'Monroe  Cotton  Mills  . . 

Wake {Raleigh  Cotton  Mills . . 

Wake Caraleigh  Cotton  Mills 

Wilson . .  .IWilson  Cotton  Mills. . . 


R.  M.  Oats,  President 

J.  L.  Brown,  President.. 

E.  P.  K.  Osborne,  Pres  .. 

Oats  Bros 

John  E.  Yount,  President 

R.  J.  Staugh 

A.  J.  Derr,  President 

C.  W.  Johnston,  Pres 

S.R.  Neal 

T.  C.  Ingram 

C.  A.  Armstrong,  Man.. 

L.  Acree.  President 

Thos.  H.  Battle,  Pres... 
W.  A.  French,  President 

,S.  S  Fowler 

Thomas  Hinshaw 

John  H.  Ferree 

John  H  Ferree 

Dr.  J.  M.Worth 

F.  L.  Emery,  Supt 

O.  R.  Cox 

Benjamin  Molifitt 

Hugh  Parks 

J.  A.  Cole... 

C.  E  Randleman 

Hugh  Parks,  Manager.. 

J.  O.  Pickard 

Empire  Mill  Company.. 

Malloy  &  Morgan 

Mallov,  Morgan  &  Co. . . 

T.  C.  Leak.: 

John  Ledbetter 

R.  L.  Steele 

W.  L.  Steele. 

W.  L.  Everett 

J.  Turner  Morehead 

S.  H.  Boyd,  Secretary  . . 
J.  M.  Knox,  Manager... 

N.  B.  McCandless 

Tanner  &  Co 

Dr.  G.  E.  Young  &  Co.. 

R.  B.  Gwyn  &  Co 

A.  J.  Thompson 

W.  A.  Moore 

C.  N.  Sampson,  Sec 

Julius  Lewis,  President. 
F.  O.  Moring,  Secretary. 
A   Branch 


POST-OFFICE. 


Charlotte. 
Charlotte. 
Charlotte. 
Chai'lotte. 
Pineville. 
Davidson  College. 
Huntersville. 
Davidson  College. 
Davidson  College. 
Milledgeville. 
Swift  Island. 
Jonesboro. 
Rocky  Mount. 
Wilmington. 
EUzabeth  City. 
iStaly. 

Randleman. 
Randleman. 
Asheboro. 
[Central  Falls. 
iCedar  Falls. 
Franklinville. 
Franklinville. 
[Coleridge. 
[Randleman. 
Island  Ford. 
Randleman. 
Empire. 
Laurel  Hill. 
Laurel  Hill. 
Rockingham. 
Rockingham. 
iRockingham. 
Rockingham. 
iRockingham. 
Leaksville. 
Reidsville. 
'Salisbury. 
'Salisbury. 
:  Henrietta. 
'Forest  City. 
Elkin. 

Mount  Airy. 
Mount  Airy. 
Monroe. 
Raleigh. 
Raleigh. 
IWilson. 


In  all,  140  cotton  mills  in  operation,  and  a  number  under  construc- 
tion, among  which  are  the  Pilot  Mills  in  Raleigh,  the  mills  of  the  Dal- 
las Manufacturing  Company  at  Dallas,  the  Erwin  Mills  at  Durham,  a 
mill  at  Winston  to  move  20,000  spindlers,  one  at  Charlotte  and  one  at 
Haw  River — in  all,  140  in  operation  and  six  known  to  be  under  con- 
struclion.  The  number  of  looms  at  present,  as  nearly  as  has  been 
ascertained,  is  9,128;  spindles,  505,324.  Number  of  bales  cotton  con- 
sumed by  factories  in  North  Carolina,  165,200. 


272  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 

The  counties  having  the  greatest  number  are  Alamance,  with  19; 
Gaston, with  17;  Randolph,  13;  Mecklenburg, 9;  Catawba, 7;  Cumber- 
land, G;  Cleveland,  G;  Lincoln,  6;  Guilford,  6;  Richmond,  7. 

WOOLEN    MILLS. 

This  is  an  industry  that  has  not  expanded  as  has  that  of  cotton  manu- 
facture, nor  does  it  give  promise  of  doing  so,  since  sheep  husbandry  is 
an  industry  that  is  impeded  by  several  causes,  chief  of  which  is  the 
depredation  on  the  flocks  committed  by  dogs,  which  public  opinion 
continues  to  favor;  so  that  what  are  known  as  "dog  laws,"  or  "bills  for 
the  encouragement  of  sheep  husbandry,"  are  periodically  laughed  into 
oblivion  as  often  as  they  are  presented  and  discussed  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  State.  JMany  parts  of  the  State,  by  soil,  climate  and 
vegetation,  are  admirably  suited  to  such  industry,  but  tlocks  do  not 
increase,  and  the  annual  clippings  find  their  wa}^  into  neighboring 
carding  mills,  thence  to  be  converted  by  the  domestic  hearth  into  the 
clothing  of  the  hardy  people  of  the  countr}^  rather  than  to  the  large 
factories  which  might  illustrate  the  industrial  skill  and  enterprise  of 
North  Carolina  manufacturers,  which  is  done  (but  not  by  the  lionie 
product)  by  factories  whose  fabrics  make  favorable  comparison  with  the 
choicest  fabrics  of  the  Northern  looms.  Thus  the  fine  mills  at  Salem 
and  at  Elkin,  and  elsewhere,  draw  their  supplies  of  raw  material  mainly 
from  Georgia  and  other  States,  rather  than  from  North  Carolina,  thus 
emphasizing  the  blindness  of  the  folly  which  persists  in  favoring  the 
destructive  dog  at  the  expense  of  the  productive  sheep. 

The  census  of  1870  reported  .'32  establishments  operating  in  the  State 
for  the  manufacture  of  wool,  operating  97  looms  and  2,806  spindles. 
This  enumeration  included  not  only  what  are  known  as  factories,  but 
also  all  the  local  carding  mills.  The  census  of  1880  reported  only  49 
such  establishments  of  all  kinds.  At  present,  excluding  carding  mills, 
there  appear  to  be  nine  woolen  mills  proper,  and  four  clas.sed  as  cotton 
and  woolen  mills.  All  of  these  employ  large  capital  and  represent 
much  of  skill  and  enterprise.     These  establisliments  are  as  follows: 

WOOLEN  MILLS. 


COUXTV.  FAC'TOItV.  '       POST-OFFICE.  LOOMS.     SPINDLES. 


Alamance Snow  Camp  ]\Iills |  SnowCamp. 

Ashe -  Helton  ]\I:niufii((uring  Co  j  Helton 

Ashe Pioneer  Wooh'H  ^lills !  Creston 

Buncombe Reems  Creek  Woolen  Mills  Weaverville 

Caldwell *Patt«'rson  Factory Patterson... 

Forsyth. Arista  Mills ". ,  Salem 

Haywood Haywood  Woolen  Mills...'  Waynesville 

Lincoln *Willow  Brook  Mills ]  Lincolnton  . 

Richmond *Haiidct  Mills I  Hamlet 

R(jckinKham *Leaksvillr  Mills.. LeaksvlUe  .. 

Rutherford Rutherford  Woolen  Mills.  Forest  City  . 

Surry \  (Jreen  Hills  Woolen  Mills.  Mount  Airy. 

Surry '  Elkin  Woolen  Mills '  Elkin 


n 

210 
500 
048 

'206 
240 

io 

10 

'456 
720 

*  Woolen  and  cotton  mills. 


MANUFACTURES    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  271. 

The  product  of  the  Arista  Mills  at  Salem  consists  largely  of  fine  cas- 
simeres,  and  also  jeans  and  kersej's.  The  former  have  a  beauty  of 
finish  and  a  fineness  and  firmness  of  texture  which  place  them  on 
equality  with  similar  goods  anywhere  in  the  country.  Elkin  is  noted 
for  the  superiority  of  its  blankets,  which  are  only  surpassed  by  those  of 
California. 

TOBACCO   FACTORIES. 

This  most  important  industry  has  had  more  influence  in  this  State 
than  any  other — perhaps  than  all  other  manufacturing  industries  com- 
bined— to  stimulate  energy  and  enterprise,  and  certainly  more  than 
any  other  has  contributed  to  the  increise  and  activity  of  urban  popu- 
lation, and,  in  fact,  to  the  creation  of  new  towns,  as  illustrated  especially 
in  striking  degree  in  the  growth  of  Durham,  Winston,  Reidsville  and, 
to  less  extent,  of  some  other  places. 

Something  has  been  said  elsewhere  of  the  tobacco  interest  of  the 
State.  A  few  examples  of  operations  will  be  given  here  as  typical 
illustrations;  but  in  the  main,  from  limitation  of  space,  it  is  necessary 
to  confine  the  subject  chiefly  to  a  list  of  the  factories  now  in  operation, 
with  the  qualification  that  it  may  be  only  approximately  complete, 
owing  to  the  difficulties  of  obtaining  fully  accurate  information.  The 
list  is  as  follows : 

Buncombe  has  1  plug  factory;  Alexander,  1;  Caldwell,  1;  Caswell, 
3;  Catawba,  1;  Cleveland,  1;  Davidson,  4;  Durham,  3;  Davie,  12;  For- 
syth, 39;  Guilford,  4;  Hertford,  1;  Iredell,  6;  McDowell,  2;  Madison,  1; 
Orange,  1;  Person,  11 ;  Rockingham,  10;  Rowan,  4;  Stokes,  5;  Surry,  6; 
Vance,  2;  Wake,  2;  Wilkes,  2;  Yadkin,  3— a  total  of  110. 

Of  smoking  factories  Buncombe  has  2  ;  Durham,  4  ;  Orange,  1 ;  Rock- 
ingham, 1 ;  Rowan,  1 — a  total  of  9. 

Of  cigarette  factories  Buncombe  has  1  ;  Durham,  1 ;  Vance,  1. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  illustrate  the  business  of  the  tobacco  markets 
in  the  State,  but,  owing  to  the  absence  of  responses  to  inquiries  made, 
it  is  impossible  to  give  details  only  in  cases  of  such  responses. 

Durham  has  four  tobacco  sales  warehouses,  at  wdiich  the  aggregate 
sales  of  tobacco  for  the  year  ending  December  1,  1891,  was  11,650,248 
pounds. 

Of  smoking  tobacco  it  has  five  factories  —  Blackwell'c]  Durham  Coop- 
erative Tobacco  Company;  VV.  Duke,  Sons  &  Company,  branch  of  the 
American  Tobacco  Company;  R.  T.  Morris  &  Sons  Manufacturing 
Compan}',  snuff  and  smoking ;  Z.  I.  Lyon  &  Co.  and  the  Faucett  To- 
bacco and  Snuff  Company,  plug  and  smoking. 

Of  plug  factories  there  are  three — the  J.  Y.  Whitted  Manufacturing 
Company,  Swift  &  Brown,  and  the  Farmers'  Alliance  Manufacturing 
Company. 

Of  cigarettes  the  W.  Duke  &  Sons  branch  of  the  American  Tobacco 
Company  iv.  the  largest,  and  one  of  the  largest  in  this  country.  Its 
output  embraces  by  far  the  greatest  quantity  of  cigarettes  made  in  Dur- 
ham, as  does  the  Blackwell  Smoking  Tobacco  Company  supply  the 
greatest  amount  of  smoking  tobacco. 
18 


272  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  manufactures  of  Durham  for  the  year  1891  include  026,200,000 
cigarettes;  tobacco  (plug  and  smoking),  4,865,835  pounds;  cigars, 
2,263,250;  snuti;  71,500  pounds. 

There  were  exported  to  foreign  countries  in  1891  —  cigarettes, 
141,555,550;  manufactured  tobacco,  57,385  pounds;  leaf  tobacco, 
1,981,511  pounds. 

The  B.  L.  Duke  Bonded  Leaf  Warehouse,  three  stories,  70x200  feet, 
has  a  capacity  of  5,000  hogsheads. 

There  are  numerous  prizehouses  or  leaf  factories. 

The  revenue  collected  at  Durham  on  the  products  of  tobacco  was 
1016,129.85. 

Winston  has  four  sales  warehouses,  in  which,  during  1891,  there 
were  sold  liJ,080,373  pounds,  with  a  value  of  $1,012,609.  The  factories, 
in  addition,  bought  for  their  use  in  other  markets  4,200,000  pounds  of 
leaf.  Of  manufactured  tobacco  there  were  sold  last  year  upwards  of 
11,000,000  pounds.  The  revenue  paid  was  $060,405.52.  There  are 
twenty-seven  plug  factories  in  Winston,  all  large  brick  buildings,  from 
three  to  six  stories  in  height  and  from  125  to  250  feet  in  length.  There 
are  numerous  prize  or  leaf  factories. 

Salem,  adjoining  Winston,  has  three  or  four  large  plug  factories. 

Greensboro  has  three  warehouses,  with  annual  sales  of  about  three 
and  a  half  million  pounds.  It  has  two  plug  factories,  the  annual  out- 
put of  which  is  estimated  at  300,000  pounds,  and  ten  leaf  factories  or 
prizehouses. 

Henderson,  in  A'ance  Countv,  has  four  sales  warehouses,  with  sales 
for  1891  of  12,000,000  pounds.  "There  are  fifty-three  leaf  dealers  in  the 
town.  There  is  only  one  plug  factory^that  of  the  Burgwin  Brothers, 
whose  output  last  year  was  175,000  pounds,  upon  which  a  revenue  tax 
of  $10,500  was  paid;  and  there  are  two  smoking  tobacco  factories,  of 
whose  operations  no  information  was  obtained. 

Wilson. — This  is  a  new  market,  the  extensive  cultivation  of  tine 
tobacco  in  that  section  having  been  only  recently  undertaken.  There 
are  no  factories  as  yet,  but  there  are  two  sales  warehouses — the  "  Plant- 
ers," by  Anderson  &  Jones,  and  the  "  Wilson,"  by  Pace  &  Woodard. 
The  sales  for  1891  were  a  little  over  3,000,000  pounds,  averaging  9.18 
cents  per  pound.  A  smoking  tobacco  factory  will  be  opened  during 
this  year. 

AsiFEviLLE  has  four  sales  warehouses.  This  is  a  comparatively  new 
market,  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  having  been  extensively  engaged  in 
within  the  past  ten  years.  In  1880  the  sales  were  only  100,000  pounds: 
in  1883-'84,  2,423,062  pounds,  and  thus  far,in  the  sea.son  of  1891-'92, 
5,277,517  pounds 

The  Ashevillo  Tobacco  Works  combines  the  different  manufactures 
of  plug  and  smoking  tobacco  and  cigarettes.  Its  operations  in  each 
are  on  a  large  scale,  and  its  reputation  for  good  work  and  the  extent  of 
its  busine.ss  justifies  the  expectations  that  tobacco  manufacturing  can 
be  carried  on  as  successfully  west  as  east  of  the  IMue  Ridge.  It  may 
be  remarked  of  this  factory  that  its  motive  power  is  electricity,  in  this 
respect  standing  alone. 

There  are  in  Ashe vi lie  two  smoking  tobacco  factories. 


MANUFACTURES    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  273 


WOOD-WORKING  ESTABLISHMENTS 

Include  several  branches  of  industry,  all  of  which  will  be  referred  to. 
The  great  quantity  of  timber  in  North  Carolina,  its  great  variety  and 
applicability  to  various  uses,  and  its  general  diffusion,  would  naturally 
suggest  its  conversion  into  forms  demanding  skill  and  the  use  of  capital, 
independent  of  those  ruder  applications  within  the  compass  of  the  most 
unskilled  labor.  It  is  no  source  of  pride  to  North  Carolina  that  to  the 
latter  is  still  left  so  much  of  the  uses  of  its  exuberant  timber  supply, 
and  that  so  vast  a  proportion  of  it  still  goes  abroad  as  raw  material,  to 
be  returned  to  her  people  as  the  finished  product,  not  only  in  the  finer 
and  costly  fabrics  of  furniture  and  pleasure  vehicles,  but  even  in  the 
humiliating  and  reproachful  forms  of  the  very  axe-handles  used  by 
her  people  to  hew  down  her  own  trees. 

Yet  a  change  is  going  on,  and  the  lesson  of  self-dependence  is  being 
learned ;  for  our  people,  if  they  are  without  thrift,  are  not  without 
skill  and  industry;  and,  as  the  manufacturing  instinct  is  developed, 
they  will  cease  to  look  exclusivel}^  to  the  skill  of  the  Northern  wood- 
worker as  they  are  gradually  freeing  themselves  from  the  absolute 
dominion  of  the  Northern  and  European  cotton  manufacturer.  To 
illustrate  this  tendency,  the  following  list  of  what  may  be  viewed  as 
the  seats  of  skilled  labor,  maj'^  prove  encouraging.  In  the  front  rank 
of  these  may  be  classed 

THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  CARRIAGES  AND  BUGGIES. 

Of  these,  .'Vlamance  County  has  2,  Alexander  2,  Ashe  1,  Beaufort  1, 
Bertie  3,  Caldw^ell  1,  Chatham  1,  Cleveland  1,  Cumberland  2,  Davidson 
2,  Durham  1,  Forsyth  6,  Gates  2,  Guilford  1,  Haywood  1,  Halifax  1, 
Hertford  3,  Lenoir  2,  Lincoln  2,  Moore  2,  Pasquotank  1,  Randolph  2, 
Sampson  2,  Vance  1,  Wake  1,  Warren  3,  Washington  3,  Wilkes  2,  Wil- 
son 1,  Yadkin  4 — in  all,  57;  established  in  30  out  of  the  96  counties  of 
the  State,  and  repre=enting  every  section  of  it.  Among  them  there  is 
wide  range  of  excellence,  defined  and  governed  largely  by  time  and 
experience.  Many  of  them  are  new— the  product  of  the  new  indus- 
trial evolution.  A  few  are  old,  and  are  meritorious,  not  only  for  the 
character  of  work  done  by  them,  but  because  of  the  courage  and  fore- 
sight which  gave  them  existence  far  in  advance  of  similar  enterprises 
in  the  State.  The  oldest,  largest  and  most  celebrated  for  the  excellence 
of  its  work  and  good  taste  and  elegance  of  construction  is  that  estab- 
lished in  Fayetteville  in  1832  by  Gardner  &  McKethan,  continued  by 
A.  A.  McKethan  until  his  death,  and  now  conducted  under  the  name  of 
McKethan  Sons. 

WAGONS,  ETC. 

Not  less  important,  and  of  much  wider  application,  is  the  manufac- 
ture of  wagons,  carts,  etc.,  conducted  by  32  different  establishments  in 
almost  the  same  number  of  counties,  as  follows:    Alamance  has  ], 


274  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Alexander  2,  Anson  3,  Cabarrus  1,  Caldwell  1,  Catawba  1,  Chatham  1, 
Cla}^  1,  Cleveland  1,  Cumberland  2,  Davie  J,  Durham  1,  Gaston  1, 
Johnston  3,  Montgomery  2,  Pamlico  1,  Pender  1,  Rutherford  1,  Surry 
1,  Stanly  1,  Wake  3,  Yadkin  1. 

Among  the  oldest  and  largest  of  these  is  the  factory  at  Waughtown, 
Forsyth  County,  three  miles  south  of  Winston,  now  conducted  by 
George  P.  Nissen  &  Co.  It  was  founded  in  1834  by  J.  P.  Xissen.  The 
business  is  now  conducted  in  two  large  brick  buildings;  the  machinery 
is  operated  by  steam ;  and  the  output  is  one  hundred  road  and  farm 
wagons  per  month,  with  such  character  for  good  workmanship  as  to 
find  ready  market  throughout  this  and  the  States  of  Georgia,  South 
Carolina  and  Virginia. 

An  establishment  of  similar  magnitude  and  character  exists  at 
Hickory,  the  property  of  Mr.  J.  G.  Hall,  but  particulars  cannot  be 
given.     Of 

FURNITURE  FACTORIES, 

There  are  25,  of  which  1  is  in  Ashe,  3  in  Buncombe,  1  in  Davie,  2  in 
Forsyth,  1  in  Gaston,  2  in  Guilford,  1  in  Henderson,  3  in  Lincoln,  1  in 
Macon,  1  in  Martin,  1  in  Mecklenburg,  1  in  Montgomery,  1  in  Moore, 
2  in  Rowan,  1  in  Surrv,  1  in  Wake,  1  in  W^ayne,  and  1  in  Yadkin.    (Jf 

HUBS,  SPOKES  AND  HANDLES, 

There  are  6  factories,  viz.:  1  in  Bertie,  1  in  Guilford,  1  in  Mecklenburg, 
1  in  Montgomery,  1  in  Rowan,  1  in  Rutherford.     Of 

SASH,  DOOR  AND  BLIND  FACTORIES, 

There  are  24,  viz.:  In  Buncombe  2,  Burke  1,  Cabarrus  1,  Caldwell  1, 
Catawba  2,  Davidson  2,  Durham  1,  Forsyth  1,  Gaston  1,  Guilford  3, 
Johnston  1,  Rowan  3,  Stanley  1,  Surry  1,  Wake  2,  Wilkes  1. 

Of  another  variety  of  wood-working  factories  is  that  at  Newbern  for 
the  manufacture  of  plates  and  di.shes  made  out  of  sweetgum,  and  also 
berry  baskets. 

At  Wilmington  is  the  somewhat  similar  establishment  of  the  Indus- 
trial Manufacturing  Company,  of  which  Mr.  John  D.  Bellamy  is  Pres- 
ident and  J.  B.  Brinson  is  Superintendent.  This  is  operated  by  steam, 
and  employs  125  people.  The  material  chiefly  used  is  gum  logs,  and 
the  product  is  butter  plates  and  baskets,  berry  baskets  and  crates, 
banana  and  fruit  crates,  etc.  The  products  are  chiefly  sent  to  New 
York. 

There  are  two  large  coffin  factories — one  at  Burlington,  the  other  in 
Yadkin  County — the  products  of  which  are  difjtributed  through  the 
Southern  States. 

Of  the  other  simpler  or  ruder  establishments  for  the  conversion  of 
the  products  of  the  forest,  there  are,  as  nearly  as  can  be  a.sccrtained,in 
operation  in  the  State  114  steam  saw-mills,  in  addition  to  numerous 
water  mills,  30  planing  mills,  18  shingle  mills,  SO  turpentine  distil- 
leries— undoubtedly  below  the  actual  number;  and,  as  largely  con- 
nected with  the  products  of  the  forest,  a  very  large  number  of  tanneries, 


MANUFACTURES    IX    NORTPI    CAROLINA.  275 

among  the  largest  and  best  equipped  of  which  is  the  one  at  Morganton, 
constructed  and  conducted  on  the  most  advanced  scientific  appHcation 
of  theory  to  intelligent  practice. 

PAPER   MILLS. 

Originally  using  only  the  waste  of  textile  fabrics,  the  immensely 
increased  consumption  of  paper  demand  other  raw  material,  for  the 
supply  of  which  human  ingenuity  was  heavily  taxed.  The  additional 
material  has  been  found  in  wood-pulp,  mechanically  or  chemically 
prepared.  The  abundance  in  North  Carolina  of  soft  woods  suitable 
for  such  purposes  has  led  largely  to  the  combination  of  wood-pulp 
with  cotton,  flaxen  and  hempen  fibre;  and  the  factories  now  in  opera- 
tion in  the  iSlate  are  able  to  supply  as  good  a  material  for  book,  print- 
ing and  wrapping-paper  as  can  be  made  elsewhere. 

There  are  three  principal  paper  mills  in  North  Carolina — that  at 
Salem,  in  Forsyth  County  ;  the  Falls  of  Neuse,  in  Wake  County;  and 
the  Tiddy  Mills,  at  Long  Shoals,  in  Lincoln.  The  product  of  these 
mills  is  bristol-board,  writing-paper,  book  and  news-paper,  and  wrap- 
ping-paper of  all  kinds. 

KNITTING   MILLS. 

Among  the  recent  manufactures  introduced  into  North  Carolina  is 
that  of  cotton  hosiery,  made  possible  by  the  invention,  or  rather  per- 
fection, of  knitting  machinery,  making  ready  response  to  the  universal 
demand  for  an  indispensable  article  of  personal  wear,  providing  easy 
and  healthful  employment  to  large  numbers  of  females  and  children, 
and,  with  the  ready  and  abundant  supply  of  raw  material,  providing  a 
good  fabric  at  greatly  reduced  cost,  and,  in  addition,  breaking  another 
chain  of  industrial  dependence.  The  experiment  of  such  enterprise 
is  comparatively  new,  and  the  manufacture  of  hosiery  has  only  recently 
been  enrolled  in  the  State  statistics  as  an  additional  subject  of  employ- 
ment, investment  and  profit.  Without  question,  another  decade  will 
show  a  great  increase  in  the  number  of  these  establishments  for  knit 
goods  of  all  kinds,  and  of  all  applicable  material. 

At  present  there  are  knitting  mills  for  the  making  of  hosiery  at  the 
following  places,  viz.:  At  Pittsboro  1,  Tarboro  1,  Salem  1,  Greensboro  1, 
Selma  1,  Kinston  1,  Salisbury  1,  Raleigh  1;  and  at  Fllizabeth  City  a 
factory  for  the  knitting  of  seines. 

The  labor  employed  is  that  adapted  to  the  light  nature  of  the  work 
to  be  done,  and,  with  the  exception  of  such  men  as  are  needed  in  the 
direction  of  the  business  and  the  superintendence  of  the  machinery,  is 
done  by  women  and  children. 

CANNERIES. 

The  discovery  of  the  [)rocesses  by  which  fruits,  vegetables,  meats  and 
other  common  substances  that  provide  human  subsistence  or  add  to 
human  comfort  or  luxury,  are  canned,  has  conferred  one  of  the  greatest 
boons  that  has  ever  blessed  humanity.  It  really  marks  an  era  in  human 
progress,  separating  by  distinct  and  emphatic  lines  that  cheerless  period 


276  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

during  which  even  the  civiHzed  races  passed  through  tlie  greater  por- 
tion of  their  existence  condemned  to  the  monotonous  use  of  the  products 
of  the  grainfields,  unvaried  by  the  grateful  succulence  of  fresh  vegeta- 
bles and  juicy  fruits,  from  the  present  days  of  enjoyment  of  the  daily 
repasts  over  which  the  genial  spring  and  the  luxuriant  summer  pre- 
side in  perpetual  reign ;  and  with  the  change  comes  not  only  comfort 
and  pleasure,  but  health  and  the  amelioration  of  much  human  discom- 
fort and  actual  suffering.  The  seaman,  on  his  long  and  trying  voyages, 
cut  off  from  land,  confined  to  the  stores  he  takes  along  with  him,  once 
constrained  to  "hardtack  and  salt  junk,"  and  the  doomed  victim  to 
scurvy  and  other  ailments  incident  to  his  sea  diet,  now,  with  his  full 
supply  of  canned  vegetables,  fruits  and  fresh  meats,  no  longer  envies 
the  happier  landsman,  but,  on  the  troubled  waters,  may  vividly  renew 
the  happy  experience  of  his  former  life  on  land.  The  soldier,  in  his 
camp  or  on  his  march,  draws  from  his  tin  garden  grateful  additions  to 
the  once  repulsive  army  beef  and  insipid  crackers;  and  the  traveler, 
from  the  same  magic  storehouse,  is  independent  of  the  hardships  of  his 
route,  and  goes  on  his  way  with  perennial  renewal  of  his  vigor  and  his 
cheerfulness.  And  at  home  the  good  housewife  has  it  in  her  power  to 
hold  unbroken  the  culinary  links  of  the  year  and  keep  in  living  memory 
the  summer  blessings  of  the  garden  and  the  orchard.  There  is  nqw  no 
gap  in  the  seasons,  for  command  over  them  has  been  obtained  and  they 
stand  subdued  to  human  will  and  intelligence. 

The  revolution  is  a  cjuiet  one,  but  vast  and  importar.t.  It  changes 
the  modes  of  li/elihood,  it  makes  marked  additions  to  health  and  com- 
fort, it  adds  largely  to  prosperity;  for  it  makes  profitable  that  wliich 
was  superfluous  and  perishable,  it  evokes  new  industries  and  stimulates 
new  enterprises,  it  gives  employment  to  a  new  and  large  class  of  arti- 
zans  and  laborers,  and  it  has  become  an  important  factor  in  the  affairs 
of  commerce.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  trade  in  "canned 
goods"  has  assumed  such  amazing  dimensions  or  become  of  such  tre- 
mendous importance;  and  this  importance  will  not  diminish  so  long 
as  mankind  retains  his  capacity  to  eat.  It  will  rather  increase,  since 
so  much  is  added  to  his  comfort  and  to  the  gratification  of  his  tastes, 
and  the  area  of  the  consumption  of  canned  products  will  enlarge  in 
proportion  to  the  expansion  of  the  knowledge  of  this  great  modern, 
revelation. 

The  adoption  of  this  new  industry  by  the  people  of  this  State  has 
been  slow  and  cautious,  perhaps  wisely  so;  but  no  State  is  so  advan- 
tageously situated  for  the  attainment  of  success.  A^egetables  of  all 
kinds  known  to  the  temperate  zone  grow  here  in  great  perfection  in  all 
parts  of  the  State,  and  the  quantity  for  artificial  preservation  may  be 
indefinitely  increased.  In  the  eastern  section,  so  largely  devoted  to 
truck  farming,  there  must  always  be  an  excess  of  production  over  the 
quantity  needed  for  the  early  market,  and  this  excess  need  neither  be 
lost  or  wasted  if  canning  is  resorted  to.  In  the  middle  and  western 
sections,  equally  available  for  the  culture  and  preservation  of  vegeta- 
bles, superior  conditions  exist  for  the  cultivation  of  fruits  in  greater 
variety  and  perfection,  and  in  those  sections  the  increase  of  the  canning 
industry  may  be  looked  for. 


MANUFACTURES    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  277 

There  appear  to  be  at  the  present  time  the  following  canneries  for 
fruits  and  vegetables  in  of)eration,  viz.:  2  in  Alamance,  1  in  Anson, 
1  in  Beaufort,  2  in  Buncombe,  1  in  CaMwell,  2  in  Chatham,  1  in  Cleve- 
land, 1  in  Davidson,  1  in  Durham,  1  in  Gaston,  2  in  Guilford,  1  in 
Halifax,  2  in  Henderson,  1  in  Iredell,  2  in  Pender,  2  in  Richmond,  1  in 
Rowan,  3  in  Rutherford,  and  1  in  Wayne — in  all,  28. 

OYSTER    CANNERIES. 

These  are  few  in  number.  With  an  increased  production  of  oysters 
under  the  new  system  of  cultivation,  and  'with  the  legal  protection 
secured  to  private  rights,  it  is  possible  the  future  will  see  a  decided 
increase.  At  present  there  appear  to  be  the  following  oyster  canneries 
in  the  State,  viz.:  1  in  Brunswick,  2  in  Carteret,  1  in  Craven,  1  in  Pam- 
lico, and  9  in  Pasquotank.  That  in  Craven,  at  Newbern,  is  very  exten- 
sive. 

COTTON-SEED  OIL  MILLS. 

With  the  thrifilessness  once  characteristic  of  the  South,  with  disre- 
gard to  the  principles  of  economy  which  might  be  the  suggestion  of  a 
plurality  of  profitable  results  from  one  product,  or  with  the  contempt 
for  small  industries  as  compared  v/ith  the  overshadowing  proportions 
of  the  unrivalled  staple  of  the  reigning  King  Cotton,  the  incapacity  of 
the  cotton  plant  to  yield  anything  but  the  fleece  gathered  in  the  fields 
was,  until  in  recent  years,  generally  conceded.  The  separated  seed  were 
roughly  shovelled  out  into  the  open  ground  as  so  much  waste,  or  to  rot 
until  in  condition  to  be  returned  to  the  ground  as  manure  for  the  next 
crop  —  a  grudging  compensation  for  heedless  waste  and  thoughtless 
extravagance.  The  stalk,  at  some  future  day  to  be  recognized  for  its 
value  in  its  application  to  the  manufacture  of  fibre  or  paper,  is  still  left 
neglected  where  it  grew,  until  in  the  coming  spring  it  is  rudely  beaten 
down  and  turned  under  by  the  plow,  with  half  incredulous  concession 
that  it  may,  in  its  decay,  do  no  harm  to  the  succeeding  growth. 

The  fact  that  the  cotton  seed  did  contain  a  valuable  oil  was  not 
unknown,  and  long  ago  the  rude  processes  to  which  the  seed  in  their 
natural  condition  were  subjected  made  partial  returns  of  a  crude  though 
useful  oil.  In  the  present  age  of  economic  and  scientific  research,  prose- 
cuted at  a  time  when  inventive  genius  was  never  so  daring  or  so  little 
thwarted  b}^  the  difficulties  which  had  appalled  the  past,  the  real  value 
of  the  cotton  seed  began  to  be  understood.  Machinery  was  invented 
by  which  they  were  freed  from  the  encasing  and  absorbing  hull,  the 
freed  and  oily  kernel  made  ready  for  the  press,  and  now  the  cotton 
grower  finds  in  the  once  despised  and  rejected  surplus  of  the  cleaning 
process  a  substance  in  value  bearing  large  proportion  to  the  lint'itself — 
an  oil  which  enters  largely  into  culinary  and  mechanical  uses,  a  cake 
which  has  become  an  important  subject  as  food  for  cattle,  and  a  meal 
now  beginning  to  be  recognized  as  useful  nutritious  human  aliment, 
and  possibly  in  the  hull  itself  a  substance  to  be  utilized  in  some  profit- 
able mode.  In  this  cotton-seed  oil  production  many  millions  of  dollars 
have  been  invested  in  mills  and  machinery,  a  new  and  important  mate- 


278  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

rial  added  to  the  subjects  of  domestic  and  foreign  commerce,  and  at 
home  a  ready  and  profitable  market  given  to  the  farmers  for  that  which 
was  once  wasted,  or  the  value  of  which  was  only  imperfectly  realized. 

The  cotton  crop  of  this  State  is,  annually,  from  325,000  to  375,000 
bales.  In  the  quantity  of  lint  cotton  required  to  make  a  bale  of  500 
pounds  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  800  pounds  of  seed,  which  is 
enough,  if  so  applied,  to  furnish  a  large  proportion -of  the  mills  now 
running  in  the  United  States. 

In  1880  there  were  nine  mills  in  operation  in  Norlh  Carolina.  There 
appear  at  present  to  be  1  in  Fayetteville,  1  in  Wilmington,  1  in  Char- 
lotte, 2  in  Tarboro,  1  in  Raleigh,  1  in  Washington,  1  in  Newbern,  1  in 
Elizabeth  City,  1  in  Kinston,  1  at  Gibson's  in  Richmond  County,  1  in 
Laurinburg,  1  at  Conetoe  in  Edgecombe  County,  1  at  Battleboro  in  the 
same  county — a  total  of  14,  wnth  an  average  capacity  of  20  tons  per  day. 

FERTILIZER   FACTORIES. 

With  the  rapidly-increasing  use  of  artificial  fertilizers,  and  with  the 
almost  complete  exhaustion  of  the  natural  supplies  of  the  ammoniated 
guano  from  Peru  and  other  sources,  there  h?is  grown  up  imperative 
demand  for  the  artificially-manipulated  substitutes.  For  a  considera- 
ble period  after  the  Peruvian  guano  supplied  the  demand,  the  factories 
of  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  Richmond  competed  for  the  supply  of 
the  North  Carolina  farmers.  Now  the  North  Carolina  manufacturers, 
if  they  do  not  control  the  market,  are  enabled  to  offer  a  very  formida- 
ble competition;  and,  in  the  excellence  of  their  product,  stand,  under 
rigid  .scientific  tests,  on  equal  footing  with  other  States. 

A  number  of  the  factories  in  this  State  compound  their  fertilizers 
for  different  applications.  In  naming  the  establishments  these  diller- 
ent  uses  will  be  noted.  The  following  is  a  list  published  by  the  Agri- 
cultural Department  of  North  Carolina  in  a  recent  Monthly  Bulletin: 

Acme  JIamifacturinf?  Company,  Wilmington — Latimers  Cotton  Fertilizer,  Acme 
Fertilizer.  Acme  Acid  Phosphate.  Gem  Fertilizer. 

B.  J   Bell  &  Co  ,  Beaufort— Fish  Scrap. 

Calder  Brothers,  Wilmington — Kainit 

Charlotte  Oil  and  Fertilizer  Companj-,  Charlotte— Charlotte  Acid  Phosphate,  Char- 
lotte Ammoniated  Fertilizer. 

Dey  &  Brothers,  Beaufort— Fish  Scrap. 

M.  Dundas,  .Jamestown — Bone  Meal 

Durliam  Fertilizer  Company,  Durham — Progressive  Farmer  Guano.  North  Cai-o- 
lina  Alliance  Official  Acid  Phosphate.  North  CaroHna  Official  Farmers'  Alliance 
Guano.  Durliam  Bull  with  Peruvian  Guano,  Durham  Ammoiiiatctl  l-Vrtilizer,  Dur- 
ham H.  G.  Acid  Phosphate,  Kainit,  Nitrate  of  Soda.  Griffith  I)oul)le  Bone  Phosphate. 

(Joldshoro  Oil  Company,  Gohlsboro— Prolihc  Cotton  Grower. 

E.  H.  &  J.  A  Meadows  &  Co.,  Newbern- Meadows"  Special  Guano  for  all  CrojJS, 
Meadows'  Sjieciai  (Juano  for  Cabl)age,  Fisli  Scrap,  Kainit.  Cotton  Guano,  Diamond 
Dissolved  Bone,  Special  Potato  (ruano.  Dianiond  Acid  Phosphate. 

Mammal  Product  Company,  Hatteras — Ground  Porjioise  Bone,  Ground  Porpoise 
Meat  Scrap. 

Navassa  Guano  Company,  Wilmington— Navassa  Cotton  Fertilizer,  Navassa  Guano, 
Navassa  Acid  Phosi)liate.  German  Kainit,  Navassa  Sjiecial  Root  Fertilizer  for  Early 
Truck,  Navassa  Truck  (Uiano  .Soluble  Ammonia,  Navassa  Grain  FertiHzer. 

Powers,  Gibbs  &  Co..  Wilmingtcju— Gii)bs  it  Co.'s  II.  G.  Ammoniated  Pliosphate, 
Eagles  Island  Ammoniated  (iuaiio.  Sea  liiid  Ammoniated  Guano,  Cotton  Brand 
Ammoniated  Dissolved  Bone.  I^>nt'  and  Potasli  Phosphate. 


MANUFACTURES    I\    NORTH    CAROLINA.  279 

F.  S.  Royster  &  Co.,  Tarboro— Farmers"  Bone  Fertilizer,  Farmers"  Special  Cotton 
Compound,  Farmers'  X  X  Acid  Pliospliate,  Carolina  Soluble  Bone,  Oronoco  Tobacco 
Guano,  Truckers'  Deligbt,  Cotton  Seed  Meal. 

Reidsville  Fertilizer  Company,  Reidsville — Broad  Leaf  Tobacco  Guano,  Acid  Phos- 
phate and  Banner  Fertilizer. 

R.  N.  Sweet,  Wilmington — Kainit. 

Caraleigli  Phosphate  Mills,  Raleigh — Eclipse  Acid  Phosphate  and  Kainit,  North 
Carolina  Ammoniated  Phosphate. 

Raleigh  Oil  Mills  and  Fertilizer  Co.-r-Raleigh  Standard  Guano  and  Cotton  Seed  Meal. 

PINE   LEAF   MANUFACTURES 

And  the  preparation  of  Creosoted  Timber  until  recently  have  been 
important  industries  in  Wihnington  and  vicinity.  The  former  were 
conducted  at  the  Acme  Mills,  seventeen  miles  from  Wilmington,  in 
Columbus  County.  At  this  factory  are  made  carpeting,  material  for 
mattresses,  matting,  and  cotton-bagging,  an  application  called  into 
existence  by  the  increase  of  duties  on  jute  and  jute  bagging.  In  the 
process  of  manufacture,  a  valuable  medicinal  oil,  known  as  pinoleum, 
is  distilled.  The  creosoting  establishment  at  Wilmington  for  the  pre- 
paration of  logs  used  in  piling  or  for  use  in  tropical  waters  where  timber 
is  subject  to  the  attacks  of  the  destructive  teredo  navalis,  at  one  time 
was  conducted  with  much  activity,  the  prepared  logs  being  in  great 
demand  in  the  West  Indies  and  along  the  Mexican  coast.  The  works 
are  still  operated,  but  apparently  with  less  energy  than  in  the  past. 

RICE   MILLS 

Are  important  in  connection  with  the  increased  culture  of  the  interior 
or  upland  rice.  The  number  of  these  mills,  which  was  four  in  1880, 
has  not  increased,  but  rather  diminished.  At  that  period  there  were 
one  at  Wilmington,  two  at  Newbern,  and  one  at  Goldsboro.  Those  at 
Newbern  appear  to  have  been  discontinued. 

BUCKET  FACTORIES. 

Of  these  there  are  two  at  Fayetteville.  One  of  these  is  operated  by 
A.  A.  McKethan,  and  produces  cedar  pails  and  churns,  oaken  well- 
buckets,  etc.  It  is  operated  by  steam.  The  other  is  the  Fayetteville 
Bucket  Factory,  of  which  Dr.  J.  W.  McNeil  is  President.  This  also  is 
operated  by  steam.  The  business  of  these  establishments  is  large, 
extending  to  man}^  States,  North  and  South.  The  material  used  for 
pails  and  churns  is  chiefly  the  juniper  or  white  cedar,  procured  from 
the  swamps  of  the  adjacent  country,  and  from  its  sweetness  and  its 
durability  is  preferred  to  any  other  brought  in  rivalry  with  it. 

POTTERY,  ETC. 

The  abundance  of  excellent  material  for  the  manufacture  of  brick, 
pottery,  tiling  and  porcelain  might  have  induced  many  years  ago  the 
inception  of  industries  suggested  b}^  the  possession  of  so  much  good 
material.  There  was,  until  the  comparatively  recent  industrial  revival, 
an  indifference,  except  in  the  manufacture  of  brick  and  coarse  potter3\ 
For  the  best  of  these  recourse  was  still  had  to  Northern  skill  and 
energy.     Now,  our  people  are  turning  to  the  use  of  their  own  resources 


280  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

and  the  application  of  their  own  skill,  and  are  rapidly  adding  other 
victories  in  their  achievement  of  industrial  freedom. 

Probabh'  the  most  important  establishment  that  came  into  existence 
under  this  new  stimulus  is  the  Pomona  Terra  Cotta  Company,  two 
miles  west' of  Greensboro,  of  which  .J.  Van  Lindley  is  President  and 
W.  C.  Boren  Secretar}^  and  C.  P.  Boren  Superintendent.  The  works 
are  extensive  and  the  operations  comprehensive,  including  drain-pipe 
of  all  sizes,  vitrified  sewer-brick,  farm  drain-tiles,  firebrick,  etc.  The 
brick,  by  careful  analysis,  presents  remarkable  qualities,  and  proves 
the  equal  of  any  found  in  the  United  States.  This  analysis  shows: 
Silica,  62.02  per  cent.;  alumina,  with  a  taint  trace  of  iron,  25.06  per 
cent.,  and  fractional  percentages  of  magnesia,  lime,  soda,  and  potash. 
The  firebrick  has  found  great  demand  in  and  out  of  the  State.  So  has 
the  sewer  and  drain-pi[)e,  and  every  other  product  of  the  factory. 
Three  miles  west  of  Morganton  is  an  extensive  tile  and  drain-pipe 
factory;  and  at  Biltmore,  two  miles  from  Asheville,  are  the  extensive 
tile,  drain-pipe  and  brick  works  of  George  Vanderbilt. 

KAOLIN. 

From  the  decomposition  of  feldspar  in  the  older  rock  formations  in 
North  Carolina  has  resulted  long  seams  or  beds  of  this  material,  so 
finely  applicable,  as  found  in  some  localities,  to  the  manufacture  of  the 
better  qualities  of  porcelain.  It  is  found  in  large  quantities  in  Guil- 
ford County,  near  (4reensboro;  in  Johnston  County,  near  Clayton,  and 
in  Chatham,  and  other  counties.  But  perhaps  the  most  extensive  and 
valuable  veins  or  deposits  are  found  among  the  mountains,  from 
Mitchell  to  Cherokee.  In  only  one — Jackson  —  has  there  been  any 
elfort  made  to  use  it.  Extensive  beds  of  kaolin  are  found  in  the  hills 
bordering  upon  Savannah  Creek  and  in  the  vicinity  of  AVebster;  and 
at  Dillsboro,  at  the  mouth  of  Scott's  Creek,  and  at  Sylva,  two  miles 
above,  extensive  works  have  been  erected  for  the  preparation  and 
refinement  of  the  material  for  the  use  of  the  pottery  and  porcelain 
Avorks  in  New  Jersey.  Articles  made  from  the  kaolin  of  Jackson 
County  show  a  beauty  and  transparency  of  texture  and  a  durability 
of  fabric  equal  to  any  similar  material  found  in  the  United  States. 

AGALMATOLITE, 

I^requently  called  soapstone,  differs  from  soapstonc,  known  west  of  the 
J)lue  Kidge  as  talc,  in  having  in  its  composition  only  a  small  percent- 
age of  magnesia,  that  element  being  replaced  by  alumina.  Agalmato- 
lite  is  found  in  large  quantities  on  Deep  River,  in  Chatham  County,  of 
fine  grain  and  a  variety  of  beautiful,  delicate  colors — pink,  blue,  white — 
and  at  one  time  was  reduced  to  powder  in  large  quantities  and  sent  to 
the  Northern  factories  to  Ije  used  in  the  manufacture  of  pajier — writing 
and  wall — soaps,  cosmetics,  pencils,  etc.,  and  also  perhaps  for  the  adul- 
teration of  sugar,  candies  and  confectioneries. 

TALC 

Is  found  in  large  (juantities  in  Macon  along  the  banks  of  the  Nantahala 
River,  and  in  Cherokee  in  the  valley  of    \'alley  River,  and  on   the 


MANUFACTURES    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  281 

banks  of  Nottely  River,  where,  from  the  whiteness  and  softness  of  the 
texture,  it  is  locally  known  as  Cotton  Rock.  The  Nottely  talc  has  for 
some  years  past  been  extensively  quarried  and  sent  North  via  Atlanta, 
for  the  uses  above  ascribed  to  agalmatolite.  That  of  Valley  River  and 
of  the  Nantahala  is  firmer  in  texture,  of  a  translucent  pearly-colored 
appearance;  and  on  the  latter  stream  a  large  mill  is  in  operation  for 
its  redaction  to  impalpable  powder,  which  is  also  sent  North  for  many 
uses.  It  is  also  formed  into  tips  for  gas-burners,  pencils,  and  other 
forms.     Tlie  quantity  is  inexhaustible. 

BARYTES 

(Sulphate  of  baryta)  is  found  in  large  quantities  in  the  mountains 
along  the  French  Broad  River  in  Madison  County,  and,  in  a  mill  on 
Spring  Creek,  at  Hot  Springs,  is  ground  into  fine  powder,  and  is  then 
in  condition  to  acquire  some  of  the  uses  of  talc  and  agalmatolite, 
though  probably  its  largest  use  is  as  a  substitute  for  zinc  in  the  manu- 
facture of  white  paints. 

These  mineral  substances  are  named  here  as  connecting  themselves 
naturall}^  in  the  topic  of  manufactures  with  the  clays  and  other  sub- 
stances entering  into  manufacturing  industries;  corundum,  asbestos 
and  mica  may  find  place  elsewhere. 

IRON   MANUFACTURES. 

The  census  of  1880  records  twenty  establishments  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  iron  and  steel  as  then  existing.  They  were  named  without 
classification  or  discrimination.  As  there  are  large  machine-shops, 
railroad  shops,  agricultural  implement  works  and  other  kindred  works 
almost  everywhere  in  the  State,  the  number  of  these  is  certainly  greater 
now  than  then. 

Of  the  varieties  of  manufactures,  there  is  to  be  found  the  edge-tool 
manufactory  of  Walter  Watson  at  Fayetteville,  for  the  manufacture  of 
the  various  tools  used  in  the  gathering  of  turpentine,  and  from  which 
the  supply  is  obtained  for  most  of  the  "turpentine  orchards"  through- 
out the  South;  also,  at  the  same  place,  McMillan  Brothers,  manufac- 
turers of  turpentine  stills,  the  largest  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the 
South,  with  a  branch  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  from  which  the  trade  every- 
where is  supplied.  Large  agricultural  implement  works  are  in  opera- 
tion at  Tarboro,  Raleigh,  Goldsboro,  ^Nlount  Holly,  and  Bost's  Mills,  in 
Cabarrus  County;  tw^o  foundries  at  Salem,  one  in  Catawba,  one  at  Hen- 
derson ville,  one  at  Lincolnton,  one  at  Greensboro,  one  at  Murfreesboro, 
and  two  in  Cumberland.  At  Charlotte  are  the  works  of  John  Wilkes, 
for  machines  and  castings;  and  the  Liddell  Iron  Works,  for  making- 
engines,  cotton  presses,  etc.  At  Raleigh  are  the  extensive  works  of  the 
Raleigh  and  Gaston  Railroad  Company,  for  the  manufacture  of  freight 
and  passenger  cars  for  its  own  use  and  that  of  other  companies;  also 
passenger  coaches. 

What  gives  promise  of  being  the  most  extensive  iron  works  in  the 
State  are  the  North  Carolina  Steel  and  Iron  Works  under  construction 
at  Greensboro  and  nearly  ready  for  operation.     The  capital  stock  of  the 


282  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

company  is  $1,000,000.  A-  one-hundred-toii  blast  furnace  has  been 
erected.  The  estabhshment  is  designed  for  the  manufacture  of  pig-iron 
and  Bessemer  steel.  The  ores  will  chiefly  be  obtained  from  ( )re  Hill, 
in  Chatham  County,  forty  miles  distant. 

SOME  OTHER  INDUSTRIES. 
A  shoe  factory  is  in  operation  at  Asheville,*  with  a  capital  of  $50,000, 
which  makes  shoes  of  all  kinds,  fine  and  coarse,  employing  seventy 
people  and  turning  out  men's,  ladies'  and  children's  shoes  of  all  grades, 
and  having  a  good  trade  in  this  State  and  also  Georgia,  South  Carolina 
and  Tennessee;  a  cotton-bag  factory  at  Concord  and  one  at  the  Orange 
Factory  in  Durham  County;  a  bleaching  factory  at  Concord ;  a  shuttle- 
block  factory  at  Lexington ;  a  factory  for  making  cotton-planters  at 
Greenville;  one  for  making  tobacco  flues  at  Westfield,  Stokes  County; 
three  for  making  locust-pins, or  trunnels, at Bryson City, Swain  County; 
and  furniture  factories — at  Jefferson,  Ashe  County,  one;  at  Asheville, 
three;  at  Lenoir,  one;  at  Salem,  two;  at  Gastonia,  one;  at  High  Point, 
two;  at  Lincolnton,  two;  at  Williamston,  one;  at  Charlotte,  one;  at 
Mount  Gilead,  Montgomery  County,  one  ;  at  Sanford,  one  ;  at  Salisbury, 
two  ;  at  Ptaleigh,  one  ;  at  Goldsboro,  one,  and  at  Jacksonville,  one  ;  and 
at  Waynesville,  a  factory  for  fancy  woodwork;  at  Salem,  one  for  bas- 
kets; at  High  Point,  one  for  brooms;  at  Selma,  one  for  tobacco  boxes, 
and  one  in  Rowan  ;  at  Bayboro,  one  for  potato  barrels ;  at  Clinton,  one 
for  crates  and  baskets. 


RAILROADS. 

A  detailed  history  of  railroad  construction  and  progress  in  North 
Carolina  would  perhaps  be  out  of  place  in  these  pages.  Nevertheless, 
it  may  be  both  interesting  and  instructive  to  take  a  brief  glance  at  the 
changes  wrought  witliin  the  last  sixty  years,  from  the  period  when 
public  thought  began  to  be  directed  to  this  marvellous  vehicle  of  mod- 
ern advancement.  Without  question,  the  "  Numbers  of  Carlton,"  those 
wonderfully  sagacious,  hopeful,  almost  prophetic  letters  of  Dr.  Joseph 
Caldwell,  President  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  exerted  the 
first  powerful  influence  upon  the  public  mind  by  demonstrating  the 
feasibility  of  railroad  construction  over  the  line  designated  in  his  sug- 
gestion, the  enormous  development  of  the  State  by  providing  a  cheap, 
swift  and  pleasant  system  of  intercomnninication,  the  increase  of  wealth 
and  population  by  making  accessible  that  which  was  difficult  of  reach, 
the  creation  of  new  subjects  of  public  revenue,  and,  what  was  of  more 
value  than  all,  the  evoking  of  a  broad,  common,  cordial  public  senti- 
ment by  bringing  the  |)eoj)le  of  all  sections  into  the  field  of  a  universal 
State  unity,  effacing  in  time  those  feelings  of  alienation,  almost  antag- 
onism, which  a  people  so  widely  separated  and  so  toj)ograi)hically  dis- 
joined must  unavoidably  have  entertained  towards  each  other. 

In  the  light  of  experience,  the  ideas,  the  plans,  even  the  sanguine 
hopefulness  of  Dr.  Caldwell,  have  now  suggestions  bordering  on  the 

*Slnce  removed  to  Elizabethton,  Tenn. 


RAILROADS.  283 

ludicrous.  The  motive  power  to  be  used,  the  cost  of  construction,  the 
speed  of  trains,  all  bear  marks  of  that  inexperience  which  results  had 
not  enlightened;  for,  it  must  be  remembered,  when  the  "Numbers  of 
Carlton"  appeared  (they  were  written  in  1827  and  published  in  volume 
form  in  1828)  there  were  only  three  miles  of  railroad  in  the  whole 
United  States;  and  in  England,  where  there  was  one  road  for  traffic, 
and  to  some  extent,  of  travel,  in  operation,  the  steam  locomotive,  though 
its  capacity  had  been  demonstrated,  had  not  fully  won  the  confidence 
of  the  cautious,  prejudiced  English  people,  or  the  cordial  approval  of 
jealous  rival  engineers  and  mechanical  constructors.  Dr.  Caldwell 
wrote  even* before  the  bold  projectors  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail- 
road Company  had  embarked  in  their  giant  undertaking,  and  he  sug- 
gested the  use  of  steam,  when  that  great  corporation  contented  itself 
wath  the  contemplation  of  the  use  of  horse-power,  with  perhaps  the 
occasional  application  of  sail-power.  Dr.  Caldwell  did,  indeed,  include 
in  his  estimates  the  use  of  horse-power,  but  his  philosophic  mind,  free 
from  prejudices,  had  been  convinced  through  his  own  observations  of 
the  future  of  steam,  and  he  foresaw  the  time  when  it  would  become  the 
universal  motor.  In  this  State  it  so  happened  that  the  occasion  never 
arose  when  it  was  called  upon  to  displace  animal  power;  for,  when  the 
time  arrived  for  the  building  of  railroads  in  North  Carolina,  steam  had 
become  the  undisputed  master.  The  first  iron  way  laid  in  this  State 
did,  indeed,  use  horse-power.  That  was  the  tramway  constructed  in 
Raleigh  in  1832  to  transport  material  from  the  granite  quarry  to  the 
Capitol,  then  under  construction.  It  was  called  a  railroad  then ;  now 
it  is  recalled  by  its  real  name  of  tramway.  But  it  had  its  uses,  besides 
the  aid  given  in  the  building  of  the  Capitol.  It  familiarized  the  public 
mind  with  the  conception  of  a  railroad,  and  gave  ocular  and  practical 
demonstration  of  its  superior  capacity  for  the  transportation  of  heavy 
weights  over  the  steep,  heavy,  often  muddy,  common  roads  of  the 
country. 

Dr.  Caldwell's  plan  of  a  railroad  from  Newbern,  with  water  connec- 
tion thence  to  Beaufort  harbor,  and  westward  as  far  as  the  State  line, 
near  Paint  Rock,  while  it  interested  the  thoughtful,  and  amused  specu- 
lative, minds,  bore  no  fruit  for  a  long  time.  It  lay  in  abeyance  long 
enough  to  have  permitted  the  building  of  several  lines  transverse  to 
the  line  he  had  proposed,  and  almost  neutralizing  his  sagacious  and 
patriotic  purposes.  In  our  day  his  ideas  are  realized,  and  on  a  grander 
and  more  practical  and  useful  scale  than  his  experience  enabled  him 
to  conceive;  yet  from  him  the  honor  and  merit  of  such  conception  can- 
not be  withheld,  for  with  him  it  was  as  original  as  it  was  bold  and  com- 
prehensive. 

The  first  line  of  railroad  chartered  in  North  Carolina  was  that  between 
Fayetteville  and  Salisbury.  The  charter  was  granted  in  1833,  and  a 
survey  was  made.  But  the  terminal  towns  were  relatively  small  and 
poor;  the  intermediate  country  was  thinly  populated  and  poorer  even 
than  the  towns;  capitalists  from  abroad  could  not  be  won  to  invest  in 
an  enterprise  that  seemed  chimerical,  and  which  did  not  have  the 
encouragement  or  the  experience  of  other  like  enterprises,  and  the 


284  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA, 

State  had  not  learned  (what  it  since  has  painfully  unlearned)  how  to 
foster  the  energies  of  its  people  by  aid  of  the  public  treasure  or  credit. 
And  this,  the  first  essay  at  railroad  building  in  North  Carolina,  failed. 

Virginia  had  thrust  the  ends  of  two  of  its  roads  within  our  borders. 
The  Petersburg  and  Roanoke  road  touched  the  Roanoke  River  at 
Blakely,  a  few  miles  below  the  present  AVeldon.  The  terminus  of  this 
road,  by  the  construction  of  the  Greenville  branch,  was  afterwards 
changed  to  Gaston,  several  miles  above,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  slack- 
water  navigation  of  the  Roanoke,  which  gave  facilities  to  the  transpor- 
tation of  the  large  tobacco  and  grain  crops  of  the  border  counties  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  This  new  terminus  prompted  the  sug- 
gestion of  an  extension  of  the  line  from  Gaston  into  North  Carolina, 
with  its  terminus  at  Raleigh,  and  passing  through  the  wealthy  counties 
of  Halifax,  Warren,  Granville,  Franklin  and  Wake;  and  thus  came  into 
being  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  road,  begun  in  1^36,  finished  in  1840. 

In  like  manner  the  extension  of  the  Seaboard  and  Roanoke  road 
from  its  terminus  at  Weldon  to  Wilmington,  to  form  a  link  in  the  line 
of  travel  between  the  North  and  the  South,  seized  upon  the  public  mind 
as  feasible  and  profitable.  But  the  original  charter  of  this  road  contem- 
plated not  a  direct  course,  but  one  by  way  of  the  State  capital,  and  the 
corporate  name  of  the  company,  chartered  in  1836,  was  the  Wilmington 
and  Raleigh  Road,  subsequently  changed  to  that  of  Wilmington  and 
Weldon  Road,  and  completed  between  the  terminals  in  1840.  It  fell 
to  the  town  of  W^ilmington,  aided  by  its  own  energies  and  high  credit, 
alone  to  carry  out  this  most  remarkable  of  modern  enterprises— a  road 
of  161  miles  in  length,  in  the  comparative  infancy  of  tlie  railroad  sys- 
tems— and  to  open  to  the  world  at  this  early  period  one  of  the  longest 
roads  then  in  existence  on  this  continent,  longer  than  any  at  that  time 
finished  in  Europe. 

What  is  justly  to  be  called  the  conception  of  Dr.  Caldwell  did  not 
take  form  until  about  1853,  when  the  North  Carolina  road  from  Golds- 
boro  to  Charlotte,  a  distance  of  223  miles,  was  unrlertaken,  and  com- 
pleted in  1856.  At  Goldsboro  the  Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  road 
was  begun,  and  completed  in  1857  to  Morehead  City,  on  Beaufort  har- 
bor, a  distance  of  97  miles,  thus  forming  a  great  portion  of  that  long 
chain  contemplated  by  the  sagacious  and  prophetic  projector.  There 
yet  remained  the  construction  of  the  western  links  of  the  chain,  from 
Salisbury  to  Paint  Rock  on  one  branch,  and  to  Murphy  on  another. 
This  was  completed  to  a  point  near  Morganton,  where  further  progress 
was  stopped  by  the  war.  Upon  the  return  of  peace,  or  very  .soon  after, 
work  was  resumed,  and,  after  many  interruptions,  financial  and  others, 
the  whole  work  is  now  completed — the  Paint  Rock  branch  in  1882,  and 
the  Murphy  branch  in  1890.  And  now  the  State  has  the  satisfaction 
of  pos.sessing  a  well-built,  admirably  conducted  and  inexpressibly  con- 
venient line  of  road,  extending  from  the  very  seashore  to  the  utmost 
limits  of  its  mountain  boundaries,  and  now  indissolubly  linking  in  one 
body  the  whole  of  its  one  disunited  territory  by  imperishable  links  of 
steel.  The  Suite  is  now  interlaced  with  railroads,  all  connected  with 
the  great  main  lines  of  the  United  States. 


RAILROADS. 


285 


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CANALS    AND    ARTIFICIAL    NAVIGATION.  289 


CANALS  AND  ARTIFICIAL  NAVIGATION. 

While  North  Carolina  appeared  to  fall  behind  her  sister  States  in  the 
work  of  internal  improvements,  facts  demonstrate  that  it  was  neither 
from  lack  of  intelligence  nor  energy  that  this  was  the  case.  It  was  her 
want  of  money,  or  rather  the  scattered  and  isolated  relation  her  people 
bore  to  each  other,  and  the  difficulty  of  concentrating  purpose  or  capi- 
tal upon  the  completion  of  those  measures,  the  necessity  of  which  was 
early  apparent  to  the  statesmanship,  the  interesis  and  the  patriotism  of 
her  people.  We  have  shown  in  the  sketch  of  the  railroads  with  what 
avidity  the  suggestion  of  that  mode  of  intercommunication  was  seized 
upon  as  compensation  for  the  mortification  that  followed  the  disappoint- 
ment in  the  earlier  conception  of  canals  and  river  improvement.  That 
this  latter  system  so  early  engaged  the  earnest  and  active  energies  of 
North  Carolina  proves  the  daring,  enterprising  character  of  its  people — 
proving  beyond  cpiestion  that,  so  far  from  being  in  the  rear,  this  State 
was  in  the  front,  holding  the  leadership,  to  be  followed  long  years  after 
by  the  great  State  of  New  York;  and  proving  also  the  enthusiasm  of  a 
great  people,  who  had  not  well  counted  the  cost,  and  who,  in  many 
things,  had  failed  beci^use  they  did  not  adequately  realize  the  magni- 
tude of  their  ideas  and  their  own  relative  poverty. 

In  the  construction  of  canals  North  Carolina  claims  a  proud  pre- 
eminence; for,  as  far  back  as  1790,  was  authorized  by  tlie  Legislature 
of  the  State  the  construction  of  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal,  connecting 
the  waters  of  Pasquotank  River  (North  Carolina)  with  those  of  Elizabeth 
River  (A'^irginia).  This  was  required  to  be  done  by  private  subscrip- 
tion, and  it  was  so  done;  and  thus  was  completed  the  existing  Dismal 
Swamp  Canal,  undertaken  thirty-five  years  before  the  great  Erie  Canal 
was  completed,  and  eighteen  years  before  the  pioneer  canal  of  New 
England — the  Middlesex — was  opened  for  use.  This  canal  served  its 
purpose  usefully  for  nearly  a  centur3^  Recently  it  has  been  sold,  per- 
haps for  other  uses,  because  other  means  of  intercommunication,  swifter 
and  more  capacious,  have  largely  superseded  it. 

In  addition  to  this,  early  steps  were  taken  to  improve  the  navigation 
of  several  large  streams  in  this  State,  large  volumes  of  water  in  their 
lower  courses  finding  entrance  into  good  and  convenient  harbors,  but,, 
in  their  middle  courses,  interrupted  by  rocky  obstructive  ledges,  above 
which,  in  several  instances,  there  were  long  stretches  of  natural  slack- 
water,  with  practicable  navigation  for  comparatively  long  distances. 
These  undertakings  were  made  a  long  time  since.  Thus  the  Cape  Fear 
Navigation  Company,  with  power  to  construct  canals,  received  a  charter 
to  improve  the  Cape  Fear  River  in  1795;  the  Roanoke  Navigation  Com- 
pany and  the  Neuse  River  Navigation  Company  in  1812;  the  New  River, 
the  Tar  River,  the  Catawba  River  and  the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  River 
companies  in  1816. 

Upon  all  these  schemes  vast  sums  were  spent,  and  little  accomplished. 
Projectors  were  all  disappointed,  because,  in  all  instances,  the  costs  far 
19 


290  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

exceeded  estimates,  and  the  relative  poverty  of  the  people  and  com- 
munities and  the  inability  to  enlist  the  aid  of  capital  abroad,  as  was 
subsequently  the  case  iu  the  early  days  of  railroad  construe: ion,  com- 
pelled the  ultimate  abandonment  of  every  efltbrt,  and  left  our  river-sides 
strewn  with  the  wrecks  of  labor  and  fortunes,  with  here  and  there  some 
partially  finished  section  of  work,  like  the  Weldon  Canal,  to  become 
available  in  after  generations  as  valuable  water-power. 

Of  late  years  the  Albemarle  and  Chesapeake  Canal,  connecting  by  a 
cut  of  a  few  miles  waters  in  Mrginia  and  North  Carolina — the  waters 
of  Chesapeake  Bay  with  those  of  Albemarle  Sound — gives  navigation 
to  sea-going  vessels  and  opens  up  an  inland  navii;aiion  from  Newbern 
to  Norfolk,  and,  for  smaller  vessels,  through  the  Cjubfoot  and  Harlow 
Canal,  from  the  waters  of  Beaufort  harbor. 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  what  existed  ten  years  ago,  and  there 
has  been  little  or  no  change  in  the  condition  of  our  waterways  since 
that  period: 

"There  are  eleven  hundred  miles  of  inland  steamboat  navigation  in 
North  Carolina.  Ocean  steamers  of  large  burden  come  into  AN'ilming- 
ton  and  Beaufort,  and  the  Old  Dominion  and  Clyde  lines  of  coastwise 
steamers  come  to  Newbern,  Elizabeth  City  and  AVashington  via  the 
Albemarle  and  Chesapeake  Canal.  The  sounds  are  navigated  by  a 
large  fleet  of  light-draft  and  fast  steamboats  that  furnish  abundant 
means  of  transportation  for  passengers  and  freight  between  the  numer- 
ous points  where  they  touch.  Steamboats  run  up  the  Cliowan  and 
Black  Water  to  Franklin,  \a.,  and  up  the  Meherrin  to  Murfreesboro; 
up  the  Roanoke  to  Halifax;  up  the  Neuse  to  Kinston  ;  up  the  Trent  to 
Trenton;  up  the  Cape  Fear  to  Fa3'etteville;  up  the  Tar  to  Tarboro;  up 
the  Scuppernong  to  Creswell;  up  the  Alligator  to  Fairfield;  up  the 
Cashie  to  Windsor;  up  the  Perquimans  Kiver  to  Belvidere;  u|)  the 
Little  River  to  Woodville;  up  the  Pasquotank  many  miles  above  Eliza- 
beth City;  up  North  River  to  Indian  Township,  and  uj)  Contentnea  and 
Swift  Creeks  to  the  head  of  navigation."' 


NEWSPAPERS. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  news{>apers  published  in  NorUi  Carolina  in 
1892: 

Albemaile— Stanly  News,  weekly.  Aslieboro — Courier.  we<'Idy.  Aslieville— Citizen, 
flailv  and  weekly:  Mountain  Home  Journal,  weekly:  Morning  Cazette,  daily:  Baptist, 
weeklv:  Freemans  Advo(?ate(colored),weekly :  ])enioerat,wi-<-kly :  Temperance  Herald, 
weekly-  An(>hor,  monthly:  Western  North  Carolina  .Metliodist.  weekly.  Bakei-sville— 
WesteVii  Democrat,  weeklv.  Beaufort— Atlantic  S4'aside.  weekly.  Booni — Watauga 
Democrat,  weekly.  Brevard— Hustler,  weekly.  Bryson  City— Times,  weekly.  Bur- 
„aAV— Bur"-aw  Herald,  weeklv.  Burlinjjton— Burlin<;ton  News,  weekly:  BuriiiiKton 
Herald  weekly.  Cartiiajie— Carthage  Blade,  weekly.  Cliadhourn— ColumhusNews, 
weeklv'  Chapel  Hill— University  Magazine,  monthly.  Charlotte— Oh.server.  daily 
•md  weeklv:  Democrat,  weekly:  Times,  weekly:  News,  daily:  Messenger  (colored), 
weeklv.  ( "linton— Caucasian,  weekly.  Concord— Standard,  daily  and  weekly:  Times, 
weekly;  Pie«lmont  Farmer,  weekly: 'Missionary  Age,  monthly.  Danhury— Reporter- 
Post  weeklv,  Dunn— Central  Tiines,  weekly.  Durham— (ilohe.  daily  and  weekly; 
Sun'dailvand  weeklv:  Recorder,  weekly:  Southern  Fdueator.  monthly.     p:denton— 


NEWSPAPERS.  291 

Fisherman  and  Farmer,  weekly.  Elizabeth  City — Economist-Falcon,  weekly;  News, 
weekly;  North  Carolinian,  weekly.  Elkin — Courier,  weekly.  Elm  City — Rural  Home, 
weekly.  Faj'etteville — Observer,  weekly;  North  Carolina  Baptist,  weekly.  Forest 
City — Ledger,  weekly.  Franklin — The  Press,  Aveekly.  Gamewell — Rackett,  weekly. 
Gastonia — Gazette,  weekly.  Gernianton — Times,  weekly.  Goldsboro — Argus,  daily 
and  weekly;  Agricultui-al  Bee,  weekly;  Headlight,  weekly;  Alliance  Sentinel,  weekly. 
Graham — Alamance  Gleaner,  weekly,  Greensboro — Record,  daily;  Workman,  dailv: 
Patriot,  weekly;  Carolina  Methodist,  weekly;  North  State,  weekly;  Royal  Knight 
(colored),  weekly;  College  Message,  monthly.  Greenville — Eastern  Reflector,  weekly. 
Guilford  College — Collegijin,  monthly.  Henderson — Gold  Leaf,  weekh'.  Hendersoii- 
ville — Hendersonville  Times,  weekly.  Hertford — Perquimans  Record,  weekly.  Hick- 
ory— Press  and  Carolinian,  weekly;  Mercurj^  weekh^  Highlands— Star,  weekly. 
High  Point  —  Enterprise,  weekly.  Hillsboro  —  Orange  County  Observer,  weekly. 
Kenly — Weekly  Visitor,  weekly.  Kernersville — News,  weekly.  Kings  Mountain- 
News,  weekly.  Kinston — Free  Press,  weekly;  Rural  Home  and  Sentinel,  weekly. 
LaGrange — The  Spectator,  weekly.  Laurinburg— Exchange,  weekly.  Leaksville— 
Gazette,  weekly.  Lenoir — Topic,  weekly.  Lexington — Dispatch,  weekly.  Lincoln- 
ton — Courier,  weekly ;  Hearty  Worker,  monthly.  Louisburg — Franklin  Times,  weekh*. 
Lumberton — Robesonian,  weekly.  Madison — Leader,  weekly;  News,  weekly.  Ma- 
rion— Western  Free  Lance,  weekly.  Maxton — Maxton  Union,  weekly.  Milton — Mil- 
ton Enterprise,  weekly.  Mocksville — Davie  Times,  weekly.  Moncure — Alliance  Echo, 
weekly.  Monroe— Enquirer,  weekly.  Morganton — Herald,  weekly.  Mount  Airy — 
Yadkin  Vallej^  News,  weekly.  Moimt  Holly — Mount  Holly  News,  weekly.  Mount 
Olive — Telegram,  weekly.  Mount  Pleasant — College  Advocate,  monthly.  Murfrees- 
boro  —  Index,  weekly.  Murphy  —  Scout,  weekly.  Newbern — Journal,  daily  and 
weekl}'.  Newton — p]nterprise,  weekly;  College  Visitor,  monthly.  Oak  Ridge— Oak 
Leaf,  monthly.  Oxford — Oxford  Day,  daily;  Public  Ledger,  weekly;  Orphan's  Friend, 
weekly;  Bright  Jewels,  monthly.  Pine  Bluff — Home-Seekers'  Guide,  weekl3\  Pitts- 
boro — Chatham  Record,  weekly.  Plymouth — Roanoke  Beacon,  weekly,  Potecasi — 
Roanoke  Patron,  Aveekly.  Raleigh — News  and  Observer,  daily  and  weekly;  State 
Chronicle,  daily  and  weekly;  Evening  Visitor,  daily;  Christian  Advocate,  weekly; 
Biblical  Recorder,  weekly;  Christian  Sun,  weekly;  Spirit  of  the  Age,  weekly;  The 
Eclectic,  monthly.  The  Gazette,  monthly;  North  Carolinian,  weekly;  Progressive 
Farmer,  weekly;  Signal,  weekly;  North  Carolina  Teacher,  monthly.  '  Randleman — 
Political  Broadax,  weekly.  Red  Springs  —  Farmer  and  Scottish  Chief,  weekly: 
Comet,  weekly.  Reidsville — Review,  weekly;  Webster's  Weeklj',  weekly.  Rocking- 
ham— Rocket,  weekl}'-;  Spirit  of  the  South,  weekly.  Rocky  Mount — Argonaut,  weekly; 
Phoenix,  weekly.  Roxboi'o  —  Person  County  Courier,  weekly;  Bulletin,  weekly, 
Rutherfordton — Rutherford  Times,  weekly.  Salem — People's  Press,  weekly;  The 
Academy,  monthly.  Salisbury — Carolina  Watchman,  weekly;  Herald,  daily  and 
Aveekly;  Truth,  weekly:  News,  weekly;  Star  of  Zion  (colored),  weekly.  Sanford — 
Central  Express,  weekly.  Scotland  Neck  —  Democrat,  weekly.  Shelby  —  Aurora, 
weekly;  Review,  weekly.  Siler  City — Leader,  weekly.  Smithfield — Herald,  weekly. 
Snow  Hill  —  Free-Will  Baptist,  weekly.  Southern  Pines  —  Development,  weekly. 
Southi^ort — Leader,  weekly.  Sparta — Alleghanj'  Star,  weekly,  Statesville — Land- 
mark, weekly:  C!hristian  Advocate,  weekly.  Sylva — Tuckaseegee  Democrat,  weekly. 
Tarboro — Southerner,  daily  and  weeklj'-;  Farmers"  Advocate,  weekly.  Taylorsville— 
Index,  weekly.  Thomasville — Charity  and  Children,  weekly;  Living  Issue,  weekly. 
Trinity  College  —  Country  Life,  weekly;  Archive,  monthly.  Troy  —  Montgomery 
Vidette,  weekly.  Wadesboro— Messenger-Intelligencer,  weekly.  Wake  Forest — Wake 
Forest  Student,  monthly.  Walnut  Cove — Advance,  weekly.  Warrenton — Gazette, 
weekly.  Washington — Gazette,  weekly;  Progress,  weekly,  Waynesville — Courier, 
weekly.  Webster — Herald,  weekly.  \Vhitakers — The  Rattler,  weeklj'.  Weldon— 
Roanoke  News,  weekly;  Railroad  Ticket,  daily.  Wilkesboro — Chronicle,  daily.  Ncirth 
Wilkesboro — News,  weekly.  Wilmington — Messenger,  daily  and  weekly;  Star,  daily 
and  weekly;  Review,  daily;  Nortli  Carolina  Presbyterian,  weekly;  North  Carolina 
Medical  Journal,  monthly:  Africo-American  Presbyterian  (colored;,  monthly:  Atlan- 
tic Methodist,  weekly.  Wilson — Adva)ice,  weekly;  Mirror,  weekly:  Zion's  Landmark, 
weekl}-.  Windsor — Ledger,  weekly.  Winston — Twin  City  Sentinel,  daily  and  weekly: 
Southern  Tobacco  Joui-nal,  weekly;  Union  Republican,  weekly.  Yancej-ville— Cas- 
well News,  weekly.     Dailies  and  weeklies,  24:  weeklies,  152;  monthlies,  18;  total.  194. 

Tlie  above  list  is  taken  from  the  last  Keport  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  (for  1892),  with  such  corrections  as  have  become  necessary  by 
additions  and  suspensions,  and  is  as  nearlj'  accurate  as  the  means  of 
information  will  permit. 


292  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


BUILDING  STONES. 

In  all  sections  of  the  State  are  found  in  greater  or  less  excellence, 
and  with  wider  or  more  limited  diffusion,  excellent  stones  for  building 
material,  sandstone,  granite,  limestone  and  marble.  Only  in  recent 
years,  owing  to  difficulty  of  transportation,  have  quarries  been  opened 
to  the  extent  of  giving  sufficient  tests  of  tlie  value  and  beauty  of  the 
varied  materials  as  to  authorize  the  enlistment  of  capital  and  the  intro- 
duction of  efficient  and  economical  machinery.  Now  much  material, 
the  value  of  which  was  known,  but  whose  use  was  costly  and  incon- 
venient, is  coming  into  use,  and  some  quarries  have  deservedly  gained 
high  repute  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State. 

A  review  of  some  of  the  different  stores  of  valuable  building  material 
in  different  parts  of  the  State  will  be  attempted,  without  effort  to  clothe 
the  statement  in  scientific  or  technical  terms. 

The  granites  are  named  first,  because  that  stone  was  first  conspicu- 
ously called  into  notice  in  North  Carolina  by  the  construction  of  the 
State  Capitol  at  Raleigh.  This  is  built  of  the  light-gray  gneissic  granite 
of  the  Laurentian  formation,  a  fine  quarry  of  which  was  opened  for  the 
use  of  Capitol  construction  on  the  south-east  border  of  the  City  of 
Raleigh.  Feldspar  is  a  prominent  ingredient  in  this  stone,  but  it  does 
not  appear  to  impair  its  durability — the  Capitol,  after  fifty  years  of 
existence,  suffering  apparently  nothing  by  weathering.  It  might  have 
been  observed  in  the  operation  of  this  quarry  that  the  increase  in  depth 
disclosed  a  finer,  harder  stone,  with  smaller  admixture  of  feldspar,  a 
stone  of  pleasing  bluish-gray  and  capable  of  high  polish;  and,  without 
doubt,  far  the  most  valuable  as  well  as  most  beautiful  contents  of  the 
quarry  remain  untouched. 

Other  quarries  have  been  opened  near  Raleigh,  and  that  on  the  Peni- 
tentiary grounds,  and  freely  used  in  the  construction  of  that  building 
and  its  massive  enclosing  walls,  furnished  abundantly  a  most  durable 
and  beautiful  stone. 

In  Granville  County,  at  the  Henderson  Quarry,  is  a  quarry  of  a  harder 
and  darker  granite,  the  material  of  which  is  much  used  for  building, 
and  is  preferred  to  most  others  as  peculiarly  suited  for  Belgian  paving 
blocks. 

In  Wilson  County,  near  the  town  of  Wilson,  and  convenient  to  the 
Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad,  is  a  quarry  of  granite  similar  to 
the  famous  Scotch  granite,  with  a  reddish  tint,  hard,  taking  a  fine 
polish,  and  suitable  for  monumental  purposes. 

In  Alamance  County,  not  far  from  Graham  station,  is  a  quarry  of 
fine  dark-gra}'  granite,  which  also  takes  a  high  polish,  and  suitable  for 
many  valuable  purposes. 

Near  Mount  Airy,  in  Surry  County,  there  is  a  wonderful  outcroj)  of 
light-gray  granite,  occupying  an  exposed  surface  of  many  acres,  and 
now  the  scene  of  very  active  and  extensive  operations;  the  material 
being  largely  used  for  building  bridge  piers  and  abutments,  and  for 
paving. 


BUILDING    &TONES.  293 

Near  Kernersville  is  also  a  quarry  of  granite — gray,  hard  and  of  fine 
texture,  taking  a  fine  polish,  iUid  much  used  in  monumental  work. 

Among  the  most  remarkii>le  granite  formations  in  the  State  is  that 
at  Dunn's  Mountain,  four  miKs  south-east  of  Salisbury.  This  is  a  feld- 
spathic  stone,  almost  white,  and,  except  for  occasional  small  nodules  of 
iron  pyrites,  free  from  any  s  ibstance  to  impair  the  homogeneousness  of 
texture  or  color.  It  forms  a  fine  building  stone,  illustrated  with  fine 
effect  in  the  Government  building  at  Raleigh,  so  white  and  fine  in 
color  as,  at  a  short  distance,  to  present  the  appearance  of  marble.  The 
whole  of  Dunn's  Mountain,  several  hundred  acres  in  extent,  constitutes 
an  exhaustless  quarry,  which,  in  the  future,  promises  fame  and  fortune 
to  those  who  own  it. 

Near  Mooresville,  in  Iredell  County,  is  found  extensively  a  granite  of 
remarkably  fine  qualit}'.  It  is  of  a  tender  bluish-gray,  to  the  eye  pre- 
senting softness  of  texture  as  well  as  softness  of  tint,  yet,  in  fact,  a  hard, 
durable  stone,  taking  a  very  high  polish,  superior  as  a  building  stone, 
and  for  monumental  purposes  witiiout  a  superior.  A  fine  illustration 
of  its  value  and  fitness  for  this  use  is  found  in  the  characteristic  monu- 
ment erected  to  the  memory  of  the  late  W.  C.  Kerr,  former  State  Geolo- 
gist, standing  in  the  City  Cemetery  at  Raleigh. 

A  very  remarkable  and  also  beautiful  and  valuable  variety  of  granite 
is  found  in  Anson  County  on  .Jones  Creek.  It  is  nearly  black,  with  a 
bronze  olivaceous  tint,  takes  a  beautiful  polish,  and  is  adapted  to  rare 
ornamental  uses. 

Three  and  a  half  miles  sout.h-west  of  Rockingham,  on  the  Carolina 
Central  Railroad,  is  found  a  beautiful  gray  porphyritic  granite,  with 
large  pinkish  crystals  of  feldspar,  including  a  small  amount  of  pyrites. 
Large  boulders  and  ledges  of  this  stone  are  found  over  considerable 
area  on  the  hill-side,  both  above  and  below  the  railroad.  One  mile  and 
a  half  west  of  this  place  is  found  a  much  finer  grained  dark  hornblend 
granite.  No  quarrying  has  been  done  in  either  of  these  places,  except 
for  railroad  purposes. 

The  prevalence  of  granite  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  is  a  marked  feature 
in  the  distribution  of  the  rocks,  and  it  would  be  idle  to  note  the  numer- 
ous points  at  which  it  may  be  found.  It;  is  more  sparingly  disti'ibuted 
west  of  the  Ridge,  and  there  the  general  character  is  somewhat  inferior. 
One  of  the  largest  formations  is  in  Henderson  County,  at  Flat  Rock, 
where  naked  ledges  of  a  gneissoid  granite  present  themselves  so  con- 
spicuously as  to  give  name  to  the  locality.  This  stone  is  largely  used 
in  building,  and,  from  the  facility  with  which  it  is  split  and  divided,  is 
used  freely  in  Hendersonville  for  the  construction  of  houses,  and  applied 
with  the  facility  and  convenience  with  which  brick  are  laid.  In  other 
parts  of  Henderson  County,  and  in  a  few  localities  in  Buncombe,  there 
are  granite  quarries,  but  this  stone  is  not  characteristic  of  the  trans- 
montane  section. 

SANDSTONE. 

In  the  long  trough  which  marks  the  former  existence  of  a  sea-basin, 
extending  from  a  point  a  little  to  the  west  of  Oxford,  south-westwardly 
through  the  intervening  counties  to  the  South  Carolina  boundary,  and 


294  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

beyond,  is  a  profusion  of  sandstone  suitable  for  building  purposes,  and 
which  is  reached  and  utilized  in  several  places  by  the  opening  of  quar- 
ries. Mr.  George  B.  Hanna,  of  the  State  Geological  Survey,  has  fur- 
nished the  following  information  of  some  of  the  work  done: 

In  Anson  County  is  the  "Waclesboro  Biownstone  Quarry,  one  mile  north  of  Wades- 
boro.  on  the  Carohna  Central  Raih-oad.  The  stone  is  (juite  hard  and  uniform,  of  a 
hglit  chocolate-brown  to  a  grayish-brown  color,  and  of  tine  to  medium  texture,  the 
lighter  colors  being  usually  coarser.  The  quarry  was  opened  in  1887,  and  was  worked 
until  June,  1891.  The  quarry  face  is  about  150  feet  long  by  30  feet  high,  though  much 
of  this  face  and  the  material  which  has  been  quarried  is  worthless  caji-rock  and  soil. 
The  cap  varies  in  thickness  from  ..  to  15  feet.  Quarrying  is  very  much  facilitated 
by  natural  jointings  and  bedding,  and  blocks  8x8x8,  and  sTualler,  are  easily  obtained. 
From  40.00O  to  50,000  feet  of  stone  have  been  quarried.  The  stone  dips  S.  E.  20%  and 
the  quarry  faces  almost  due  west.  All  stone  was  sawed  either  at  the  quarry  or  shipped 
rough;  dimension  stone.  To  cents  per  foot:  sawed  two  ways.  81:  four  ways,  81.25.  It 
was  used  principally  for  trimming  brick  buildings.  Specimens  of  it  may  be  seen  from 
Atlanta  to  Baltimore,  notably  tlie  United  States  Court-houses  and  Post-offices  at  Wil- 
mington, Asheville  and  Statesville,  N.  C,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
buildings  at  Charlotte  and  Atlanta,  the  Garrett  School  building  at  Baltimore,  and  the 
Baptist  Church  at  Wadesboro.  A  steam-pump  was  constantly  employed  to  drain  the 
quany,  and  in  rainy  weather  work  would  sometimes  be  suspended  for  a  month  on 
account  of  flooding.  The  machinery  connected  with  the  quarry  consists  of  two  boilers, 
an  engine  of  about  fifty  horse-power,  five  gangs  of  saws,  steam-drill,  one  steam-power 
derrick  of  fourteen  tons  capacity,  and  two  horse-power  derricks.  The  full  force 
employed  was  about  sixty  workmen. 

There  is,  as  indicated  above,  a  temporary  suspension  of  work,  due 
probably  to  reorganization  of  the  company  operating  it,  but  the  quarry 
is  inexhaustible,  and  the  demand  for  its  products  not  likely  to  suffer 
diminution. 

The  "E.  Linehan  Quarry"  is  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  above,  on  the 
Carolina  Central  Railroad.  The  stone  is  practically  the  same,  with  about  the  same 
advantages  ami  disadvantages  in  quarrying.  The  quarry  face  is  about  20  feet  high 
and  300  feet  long.     Tiie  stone  is  dressed  by  hand  at  the  quarry,  and  shipped  rough. 

In  Chatham  County  is  the  Egypt  Coal  Company's  (juarry,  on  tlie  proposed  exten- 
sion of  the  Egypt  Railroad.  The  output  is  a  compact  tine  i-eddish-brown  sandstone, 
in  a  bluff  from  30  to  40  feet  high,  on  the  east  bank  of  Deep  River,  and  was  worked  a 
little  in  the  fall  of  18S9— 3.000  to  4,000  feet  having  been  (piarried.  Some  of  this  stone 
sliows  slight  lamination,  though  the  te.xture  is  usually  (piite  uniform.  The  cap  is  not 
over  10  feet  thick,  including  tlie  overlying  soil.  Tliis  blutf  extends  down  the  river 
about  lialf  a  mile. 

In  Moore  County  is  the  Rockle  and  Laurence  (Quarry,  a  (piarter  of  a  mile  south- 
west of  Sanford,  and  a  (piarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Raleigli  and  Augusta  Air-Line 
Railroad.  The  material  is  a  rather  .soft  reddish-brown  line-grained  sandstone.  The 
f|uarry  was  oi)ened  in  the  spring  of  1890,  and  worked  until  the  sjningof  1892.  About 
25,000  cubic  feet  have  been  taken  out.  The  color  is  (piite  uniform,  but  the  texture  is 
rather  variable.  fre(|uenlly  running  into  fine  conglomerate,  sometimes  containing  a 
good  deal  of  clay.  It  is  used  for  house  trimming  and  ornamental  work,  and  may  be 
seen  in  the  City  Hall  of  Charlotte,  the  Court-house  and  Post-oHiee  at  tireenville.  S.  C, 
and  other  buildings  in  Atlanta.  DaiiNille.  Norfolk  and  Washington  City.  All  the 
stone  was  dressed  at  the  r|uarry  and  hauled  to  the  railroad  at  Sanfurd.  The  strijiinng 
does  not  exceed  three  or  four  feet,  and  there  is  jnactiially  no  cai)-st<nie.  A  steam- 
pump  was  necessary  to  drain  the  (juarry.  Hoisting  and  drilling  was  also  done  by 
steam-power,  but  all  dressing  was  tlone  l)v  hand.  Tlie  fid!  working  force  was  .sixty 
men.  including  stone-dressers. 

The  Carolina  Brownstone  Quany,  one  mile  north-west  of  Sanford,  on  the  Cape 
Fear  ami  Yadkin  X'ailey  i;ailro;id,  was  ojiened  at  the  present  workings  in  Fel)ruarv, 
1892,  and  alxiut  25. (MM)  feet  of  stone  have  i)een  taken  out.  The  stone  is  a  tolerably 
imiform  line  compaet  j;rayisli-brown  sandstone,  and  is  used  for  house  trinnnings.  It 
has  been  applied  in  Siiint  Luke's  CInuch,  Norfolk,  and  in  the  Court-house  at  Bristol, 
Tenn,  The  capacity  is  from  eight  to  ten  car-hjads  per  week.  The  cap-stone  is  from 
two  to  four  feet  thick,  under  about  six  feet  of  soil.  The  (piarry  is  drained  naturally. 
Hand-drills  anfl  horse-jif)wer  derricks  are  used,  and  only  dimension  stone  is  <|uarried. 


BUILDING    STONES.  295 

A  remarkably  promising  sandstone  quarry  lias  been  located  on 
McLendon's  Creek,  four  miles  south-west  of  Carthage,  and  a  company 
with  large  capital  has  been  organized  to  woik  it.  The  formation  pos- 
sesses peculiar  advantages  for  working  it,  the  outcrop  being  a  large 
rising  on  the  side  of  the  valley  of  the  creek,  so  that  the  stone  is  accessi- 
ble without  under-ground  work,  and  the  drainage  is  natural.  Until  a 
railroad  is  extended  from  Carthage  to  the  c[uarry  only  preparatory 
work  will  be  done. 

In  Durham  County  small  quantities  of  sandstone  for  local  use  have  been  quarried 
in  three  places  in  the  vicinity  of  Durham:  1st.  A  rather  coarse  graystone  in  a  low 
bluff  about  a  mile  south-east  of  Durham.  2d.  A  uniform  fine  brovtmstone  about  one 
mile  east.  Both  of  these  are  about  a  mile  from  i-ailroads,  and  the  product  was  hauled 
away  in  wagons  when  worked.  3d.  Duke's  Quarry,  at  the  junction  of  the  belt  line 
with  the  Lynchburg  and  Durham  Railroad.  This  is  mostly  a  finelj'  laminated  reddish 
brownstone,  in  a  considerable  hill  beside  the  railroad. 

Rather  coarse  gray  sandstone,  such  as  was  used  in  the  University,  is  found  about 
two  miles  east  of  Chapel  Hill. 

Near  Brasfields,  five  miles  east  of  Durham,  is  found  a  sandstone  of 
pleasing  reddish-gray,  the  material  from  which  may  be  seen  in  the 
bell-tower  of  Christ  Church,  Raleigh,  the  whole  of  which  is  built  of 
this  stone.  This  quarry  is  not  now  worked,  though  by  no  means 
exhausted. 

MARBLE. 

The  finer  stones  under  this  name  are  not  found  of  much  value  or  in 
considerable  quantity,  except  in  the  western  section,  where  they  begin 
to  occur  in  the  deep  gorge  of  the  Nantahala  River,  where  they  present 
themselves  on  the  south  faces  of  the  mountains,  which,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  river,  start  in  the  narrow  valle3\  Professor  Kerr  classes 
these  marbles  under  the  name  of  limestone,  which,  in  truth,  they  are, 
but  of  a  valuable  and  peculiarly  beautiful  kind — hard,  close-grained, 
uniform  in  texture,  taking  high  polish  and  displaying  varied  and  beau- 
tiful coloring — white,  black,  rose-colored,  salmon,  and  variegated — 
affording  fine  material  for  ornamental  and  architectural  uses.  The 
quantity  seems  exhaustless,  and  as  access  to  transportation  is  now  easy, 
the  quarries  now  being  opened  pro4iiise  to  be  largely  worked.  These 
are  now  operated  by  a  Georgia  company,  with  headquarters  at  Atlanta, 
and  the  finished  work  is  put  on  the  market  as  "Georgia  marble,"  while 
its  true  origin  is  indicated  by  the  peculiar  and  various  coloring:.  Red 
Marble  Gap,  the  crossing  on  the  railroad  from  Macon  into  Cherokee, 
takes  its  name  from  the  deep-colored  marble  which  flanks  the  railroad 
track  along  portions  of  its  course. 

Entering  Cherokee,  and  descending  Valley  River,  marble  of  varie- 
gated hues  presents  itself  at  several  points.  Near  Andrews,  on  the 
railroad,  a  seam  of  richly-colored  dark  stone  is  exposed  in  the  bed  of 
the  river,  a  polished  specimen  of  which  is  placed  in  the  State  Geological 
Museum.  Near  Murphy,  pure  white  marble  of  a  somewhat  coarser 
texture  presents  itself,  and  in  large  quantities,  and  possesses  high  value 
as  building  stone,  and  perhaps  also-for  monumental  purposes,  the  stone 
taking  a  good  polish. 


296  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Limestone,  which  cannot  be  classe(3  as  a  building  stone,  is  snnewhat 
sparing!}'  distributed  through  the  State.  It  occurs  as  magnesian  lime- 
stone in  the  counties  of  Fors^'th,  Yadkin  and  Stokes.  Crystalline  lime- 
stone is  found  in  Gaston  County,  and  carbonate  of  lime,  making  a  good 
lime,  is  found  in  portions  of  Buncombe  and  Henderson  Counties,  and 
in  a  very  marked  though  somewhat  narrow  outcrop  in  Madison  County, 
a  short  distance  below  the  Hot  Springs. 

That  part  of  the  eastern  section  of  the  State  lying  south  of  the  Neuse 
River  and  along  Trent  River,  abounds  in  shell  limestone,  very  suitable 
as  a  building  stone.  It  is  readily  cjuarried  in  large  masses,  and  rapidly 
becomes  hard  on  exposure  to  the  air,  and  is  very  durable.  For  massive 
architecture  it  is  very  suitable.  The  only  large  application  of  it  seems 
to  have  been  in  the  enclosure  of  the  Cit}'  Cemetery  at  Newborn,  and 
the  fine  archways  over  the  chief  entrance  displays  the  character  of  the 
stone  to  fine  advantage. 

SLATE. 

At  Mr.  Robert  Berns',  three  miles  north-west  of  Egj^pt,  on  the  Pitts- 
boro  road,  a  blue  compact  clay  slate  is  found,  which  splits  well  on  sur- 
face exposure.  Pieces  eighteen  inches  square,  and  thin  enough  for 
roofing,  have  been  split  out  within  one  foot  of  the  surface.  No  work 
has  been  done  here  Slate  of  the  same  nature  is  found  three  miles  west 
of  Goldston,  at  Mr.  Hugh  Womble's.  On  Rocky  River,  four  miles 
above  its  mouth,  a  hard  blue  silicious  slate  is  found,  which  splits  well 
on  outcrop.     It  has  not  been  quarried. 


GOLD  MINING  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA,  1892. 

THE   AURIFEROUS  AREA  OF    NORTH    CAROLINA   EMBRACES 
NEARLY  ONE-HALF  OF  THE    STATE. 


MODES  OF  OCCURRENCE  OF  THE  GOLD.— 1st.  Ix  "Gravel"'  on  the  Bed- 
rock OR  IN  Old  Channels,  where  it  has  Been  Concentrated.  2il.  In  the 
Mass  of  the  Original  Rock.  3d.  In  the  Schists  Forming  Bedded  Veins. 
4th.  In  Quartz  Veins. 

The  entire  surface  of  the  country  has  long  been  subject  to  weathering 
agencies  to  a  great  depth,  and  the  auriferous  bodies  have  shared  in  these 
changes.  Nearly  or  Ciuite  to  the  depth  of  these  alterations  the  gold  is 
in  a  "free"  condition  and  easily  savable.  Deeper  than  this  tlie  ores 
are  only  partly  changed,  and  the  associations  of  the  gold  are  such  as 
to  demand  skilled  treatment  and  costly  appliances.  The  gold  is  not 
uniformly  distributed  in  the  ore  bodies,  for  both  beds  and  veins  have 
"chimneys,"  or  "shoots,"  in  which  the  gold  is  concentrated,  leaving  the 
intermediate  parts  relatively  {)Oor.  The  auriferous  schists  are  some- 
times hundreds  of  feet  thick,  and  in  such  cases  the  term  "auriferous" 
is  only  the  convenient  way  of  discriminating  the  workable  from  the 
non-workable. 


TABLE    ROCK    AND    HAWK'S    BILL. 


GOLD    MINING    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  •       297 

For  the  geology  of  the  State  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Geological 
Reports  ah'eady  pubhshed,  and  to  bulletins  soon  to  be  issued.  This 
subject  may  be  dismissed  here  in  the  following  brief  statenir  nt:  Three 
general  geological  systems  are  easily  discriminated  (the  two  lowermost 
are  probably  Archean),  viz.,  the  Lower  L^urentian  and  the  L  pper  Lau- 
rentian,  and  the  Huronian.  The  first-named  is  promiije.it  in  the 
Greensboro  and  Charlotte  granite  belt,  which  is  from  five  to  ihirty-five 
miles  in  width.  Veins  of  gold-bearing  iron  and  copper  pyrites  are 
numerous  along  the  eastern  half  of  the  belt,  and  in  the  southern  part. 
These  var}'^  from  a  few  inches  to  sixty  feet  in  width.  The  ores  are 
refractory  onl}^  as  the  sulphurets  make  them  so.  Westward  of  this 
axial  area,  and  stretching  westward  to  Tennessee,  is  a  body  classed  as 
Upper  Laurentian.  Its  rocks  are  gneissoid  to  slaty  in  structure.  The 
veins,  especially  in  the  western  part,  are  generall}'  narrow,  though 
numerous,  and  not  infrequently  rich.  The  third  geological  formation 
is  to  the  eastward  of  the  central  belt,  viz  ,  the  Huronian.  It  is  a  region 
of  quartzites  and  "slates,"  and  is  fifteen  to  forty-five  miles  wide.  The 
mineral  resources  of  this  middle  body  of  slates  and  schists  is  very  great, 
in  iron  as  well  as  in  gold.  In  the  latter  it  has  hardly  a  rival  in  the 
entire  Appalachian  region.  In  the  western  edge  of  this  belt,  adjacent 
to  its  junction  with  the  Lower  Laurentian,  is  a  stretch  of  auril'erous 
copper,  lead  and  pyrite  mines,  which  have  been  worktd  more  deeply 
and  extensively  than  any  other  in  the  State. 

WARREN,  FRANKLIN  AND  NASH  COUNTIES. 

The  extreme  north-east  deposits  occur  in  these  counties,  and  cover  an 
area  of  more  than  two  hundred  square  miles.  The  important  points 
in  this  area  are:  The  Thomas  Mine,  one  mile  and  a  half  north-east 
from  Ransom's  Bridge.  The  Portis  Mine  is  in  the  north-east  corner  of 
Franklin  County.  This  mining  tract  embraces  938  acres.  Both  hydrau- 
lic and  vein  work  is  carried  on.  This  work  is  largely  automatic,  and 
the  outlay  for  the  plant  is  not  excessive.  The  cost  of  treatment  is  sur- 
prisingly low.  The  Mann-Arrington  Mine  at  Argo  has  a  fine  record. 
The  placer  washings  still  yield  many  fine  nuggets.  At  the  lOOfoot 
level  there  is  a  body  of  ore  three  feet  wide.  At  the  Conyers  Mine,  seven 
miles  from  Whitaker's,  there  is  an  eighteen-inch  vein  of  brown  ore  and 
sulphurets,  and  a  large  quantity  of  "pay  gravel."  Near  Springhope, 
on  the  Tar  River,  considerable  surface  washing  is  carried  on.  The 
Woodward-Hedgepeth  tract,  two  miles  from  Nashville,  has  a  large  area 
of  gravel,  and  lately  a  very  strong  vein  three  feet  wide  has  been  opened 
up.  Other  mines  in  this  district  are  the  Kearney,  Taylor,  Davis,  Nick 
Arrington,  and  Harrison.  The  aggregate  of  the  regular  employees  is 
seventy- five. 

MOORE  COUNTY. 

The  Huronian  in  Moore  County  has  two  belts — one  ten  miles  north- 
west from  Carthage,  and  the  other  eighteen.  The  Bell  Mine  is  the  onl}' 
one  worked  in  the  former.  Here  occur  rich  quartz  seams,  assaying 
from  $30  to  $1,300  per  ton,  and  strict  averages  of  large  working  bodies 
run  $14  per  ton.     The  Johnson  Mine  is  to  the  smth-west  of  the  Bell. 


298       ■  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Six  miles  north-east  of  the  Bell  is  a  large  body  of  gold  and  silver  bear- 
ing copper  ore,  and  two  and  one-half  miles  norih-east  of  the  Chick  is 
a  body  quite  similar — the  Phillips. 

The  second  belt  comprises  a  dozen  well-known  mines  in  a  space  three 
or  four  miles  wide  and  six  or  eight  miles  long  from  north-east  to  south- 
west. The  formation  is  everywhere  very  silicious.  The  veins  are  "  bed- 
ded veins,"  and  are  merely  the  richer  parts  of  the  auriferous  strata.  The 
Brown  Mine,  on  the  north-west  edge  of  the  district,  has  been  worked 
for  a  distance  of  300  yards,  and  to  a  depth  of  fifty  or  sixty  feet.  The 
Bat  Koost  and  the  Shields,  near  by,  have  also  been  largely  worked. 
The  Cagle  Mine,  one  mile  south  of  the  Shields,  and  on  the  east  edge  of 
the  belt,  has  500  acres.  The  ore  has  a  very  small  amount  of  dissemi- 
nated pyrite,  and  assays  from  S5.33  to  $39.88  per  ton.  Unlike  most  of 
the  mines  of  this  belt,  the  work  is  wholly  underground.  The  Clegg 
Mine,  one-fourth  of  a  mile  west,  is  made  up  of  the  same  schists,  and  is 
worked  by  open  cuts  The  Morrell  Mine  is  one-fourth  of  a  mile  south- 
west. The  Burns  and  Aired  Mine,  one-half  mile  south  of  the  Cagle, 
is  perhaps  the  best  example  of  this  class  of  ore  deposits.  The  forma- 
tion is  the  familiar  one  of  the  district.  The  selection  of  places  for 
exploitation  is  determined  by  practical  tests.  Large  bodies  of  the  ore 
will  run  from  S3  to  $5  per  ton.  Most  of  the  work  is  done  "open  cut." 
The  Kendall  and  the  Monroe  are  near  by. 

The  mines  of  Moore  Count}^  are,  with  few  exceptions,  massive  bodies 
of  low-grade  ores,  with  a  thin  dissemination  of  sulphurets.  To  modest 
operations,  with  a  cheap  plant,  many  of  these  mines  have  been  remu- 
nerative. 

MONTGOMERY  COUNTY. 

In  Montgomery  County  also  the  Huronian  formation  prevails,  but 
tlie  silicious  schists  give  place  to  clay  slates  toward  the  middle  of  the 
county.  The  vein  mines  have  been  very  prominent  in  the  history  of 
the  State,  but  the  gravel  mines  arc  less  known. 

There  are  three  belts  of  auriferous  territory  in  this  county.  The 
most  easterly  range  embraces  the  Moore  Mine  on  the  north-east,  the 
Reynolds,  the  Carter  (near  Troy),  and  the  Sam.  Christian  and  Swift 
Creek  to  the  south-west.  The  Sam.  Christian  has  gained  a  wide  repu- 
tation as  a  producer  of  large  and  fine  nuggets.  The  gold  is  found  in 
old  "channels,"  in  gravel,  deeply  covered  with  soil,  and  rarely  occurs 
as  "dust,"  but  generally  as  nuggets,  weighing  from  five  to  more  than  a 
thousand  pennyweights.    The  work  is  almost  exclusively  hydraulic. 

The  second  and  parallel  belt  is  four  to  six  miles  north-west,  and  com- 
prises a  line  of  "gravel"  mines  on  the  north-west  of  the  Uwharrie 
Mountains,  and  between  it  and  the  I-wharrie  River.  The  better-known 
localities  are  the  Bright,  0})hir  (or  Davis),  Spanish  Oak  Gap,  Dry  Hol- 
low, Island  Creek,  Deep  Flat,  Pear  Tree  Hill,  Tom's  Creek,  Harbin's, 
Bunnell  Mountain,  Dutchman's  Creek,  and  the  Worth  Mines,  the  latter 
being  near  the  junction  of  the  Uwharrie  and  the  Yadkin.  These  prop- 
erties have  never  been  adequately  worked,  as  the  water-supply  is  entirely 
inadaquate.  Some  of  them  have  large  bodies  of  ores.  The  Tebe  Saun- 
ders Mine  is  near  the  Worth.     It  was  discovered  bv  accident  in  1889. 


GOLD    MINING    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  299 

Several  stringers  were  exposed  which  contained  gold  in  abundance, 
and  work  proceeded  for  some  time  with  great  vigor,  till  the  exhaustion 
of  the  pocket  left  only  vein  inatier  of  ordinary  value. 

The  third  belt  is  a  little  further  to  the  north-west.  The  more  promi- 
nent mines  of  this  belt  are  the  Steele  (or  Genesee),  Saunders,  Henderson, 
Appalachian,  Morris  Mountain,  Russell,  Little  Russell,  McLean's  Creek, 
and  Beaver  Dam.  The  first  three  named  carry  largely  argentiferous  or 
auriferous  galena.  The  Appalachian,  Morris  Mountain  and  both  the 
Russells  are  bedded  ore  masses.  The  last  two  on  the  list  are  gravel 
mines.  The  Steele  (or  Genesee)  Mine  is  on  the  east  side  of  the  Uwhar- 
rie,  and  about  two  miles  south  of  Eldorado  village.  The  schists  here 
are  very  quartzilic.  The  ore  deposits  vary  from  twelve  to  twenty  feet 
in  thickness.  The  most  valuable  part  of  this  deposit  consists  of  narrow 
"string  veins,"  in  which  the  gold  occurs  in  relatively  large  Cjuantity. 
The  associated  mineral  matter  is  galenite,  blende,  chalcopyrite  and 
pyrite.  The  "string  veins"  are  sometimes  fabulously  rich,  while  the 
concentrated  pyrites  form  a  material  of  respectable  value,  but  very 
refractor3\     The  Saunders  is  the  north-east  extension  of  the  Steele. 

The  Russell  Mine  is  located  in  the  north-west  corner  of  Montgomery 
County.  It  has  been  worked  very  extensively,  and  has  allowed  better 
opportunities  for  study  than  any  other,  and  hence  will  serve  as  a  type 
of  several  mines  in  this  region.  The  schists  are  the  familiar  silicious 
talcose  or  chloritic  schists  of  the  section,  and  contain  in  the  ore  channels 
from  two  to  four  per  cent,  of  disseminated  pyrites.  There  is  no  appear- 
ance of  a  fissure  vein  at  this  mine.  The  entire  formation  is  gold-bear- 
ing, but  only  certain  strata  contain  it  in  quantities  large  enough  to 
warrant  work.  The  gold-bearing  material  is  of  low  grade,  assaying,  as 
ordinary  material,  $2.27  to  .$9.95  per  ton.  The  auriferous  territory  is 
fully  2,000  feet  across  the  formation  from  north-west  to  south-east. 
The  Morris  Mountain  Mine,  a  tract  of  350  acres,  is  in  this  neighborhood. 

The  Appalachian  (or  Coggins)  Mine  is  one  mile  south  of  the  Russell. 
The  schists  resemble  those  of  the  Russell.  The  mine,  as  far  as  devel- 
oped, shows  large  bodies  of  low-grade  ores,  similar  to  those  of  the  Rus- 
sell, yet  ores  that  are  easily  within  the  limits  of  profitable  work. 

The  Beaver  Dam  Mine  at  Flaggtown  contains  800  acres,  one-half  of 
which  is  claimed  to  be  underlaid  by  gravel.  There  are  numerous 
seams  of  auriferous  quartz,  and  a  massive  body  of  chloritic  schists, 
carrying  gold.     The  work  has  been  done  by  hydraulic  methods. 

RANDOLPH   COUNTY. 

Randolph  County,  like  Montgomery  County,  abounds  in  mines,  and 
not  less  than  thirty  are  well  known.  Of  these  the  more  noted  are  the 
Sawyer,  Winslow,  Lafflin  (or  Herring),  Jones  (or  Keystone),  Davis 
Mountain,  Winningham,  Slack,  Graves,  and  Hoover  Hill.  All  these 
mines  are  in  the  "slate,"  and  the  belts  are  probably  continuous  with 
the  western  ones  of  Montgomery. 

The  .Jones  (or  Keystone),  the  Laftlin  (or  Herring),  and  the  Delft,  are 
quite  similar  in  character,  and  a  description  of  the  .Jones  will  indicate 
the  characteristics  of  the  others.      It  has  been  very  largely  worked. 


300  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

This  mining  tract  has  293|  acres,  and  is  twelve  miles  nearly  south-east 
from  Thomasville.  The  schists  are  soft  and  weathered  to  a  great  depth, 
which  has  brought  about  a  peroxidation  of  the  ferruginous  constituents. 
Gold  is  universally  present,  but  the  mining  is  confined  to  certain  richer 
belts.  Occasional  masses  are  charged  with  finely  disseminated  iron 
pyrite,  slightly  altered.  The  working  strata  differs  little  from  the 
unworkable.  Two  of  these  belts  have  gained  especial  prominence,  one 
being  50  feet  wide,  and  the  other  110  feet.  The  mine  is  simply  a  series 
of  ore  quarries,  and  is  w^orked  "open  cut"  as  a  quarry.  The  disinte- 
grated condition  of  the  rock  or  soil  allows  of  mining  at  a  marvellously 
cheap  rate,  frequently  not  exceeding  fifteen  cents  per  ton  of  ore  deliv- 
ered at  the  mill-house.  The  material  is  low  grade,  but  it  changes  per- 
petually in  its  contents,  and  bodies  of  relativel}'  high  grade  may  be 
met  at  any  time.  Assays  give  $2.07  to  $28.94  per  ton.  Strict  averages 
of  large  bodies  give  fairly  uniform  assays,  so  that  it  may  be  said  with 
fairness  that- the  average  of  working  bodies  will  not  fall  under  S3  per 
ton.  The  treatment  is  by  stamp  batter}^  but  hydraulic  methods  might 
also  be  pursued  if  a  cheap  supply  of  water  w^ere  available. 

The  Parrish  Mine  adjoins  the  Jones.  The  ore  body  is  hornblendic 
and  chloritic,  and  sometimes  very  rich,  assaying  from  $14.90  to  §88  50. 

The  Hoover  Hill  Mine  is  located  seventeen  miles  nearly  south  from 
High  Point,  and  comprises  250  acres.  In  its  early  days  operations  were 
very  profitable.  The  "county"  is  apparently  an  altered  schist,  very 
hard  and  compact,  traversed  by  belts  abounding  in  quartz  seams,  and, 
both  above  and  be'ow,  these  belts  have  been  the  productive  part.  The 
old  "Bri'ds  Shoot"  was  the  most  productive,  and  is  now  down  350  feet. 
The  gold  is  uniformly  associated  with  the  quartz  seams.  Iron  pyrite 
is  generally  present  to  the  extent  of  three  per  cent.  The  Wilson  Kindley 
Mine  is  one-half  mile  south-west. 

It  will  easily  be  seen  from  the  above  brief  description  of  Montgomery 
and  Randolph  Counties  that  the  extent  of  the  auriferous  wealth  is 
beyond  our  present  power  to  estimate.  Probably  no  other  equal  area 
of  the  State  has  anything  to  compare  with  it. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  of  putting  these  vast  and  unique  stores 
of  gold  into  the  channels  of  commerce  lies,  if  a  conjecture  may  be  haz- 
arded, not  so  much  in  the  introduction  of  any  new  "process,"  which 
will  supersede  amalgamation,  as  in  the  cheapening  and  perfecting  the 
art  of  mining,  and  in  the  increased  efficiency  of  the  modes  of  amalga- 
mation, with  chlorination  as  an  auxiliary,  following  a  well-devised 
system  of  concentration. 

STANLY  COUNTY. 

In  Stanly  County  the  more  noted  mines  are  the  Ilaithcock  and 
Hearne,  two  miles  north-west  from  Albemarle.  The  Ilaithcock  is  the 
northern  exteui-ion  of  the  Ilearno,  and  itself  merges  to  the  north-east 
into  the  Lauder. 

The  Parker  Mine,  at  New  London,  embraces  four  mining  tracts, 
aggregating  827J  acres,  and  is  in  the  midst  of  a  very  important  mining 
di.strict.     There  are  three  well-known  veins  on  this  tract,  and  large 


GOLD    MINING    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  301 

areas  of  valuable  "gravel,"  which  is  not  only  diffused  generally  over 
the  surface,  but  is  largely  concentrated  in  the  beds  of  the  various 
streams  running  through  the  properties.  This  gravel  contains  from 
eleven  to  nineteen  cents  to  the  cubic  yard,  and  the  quartz  and  vein 
matter  assays  from  S4.23  to  $7.38  per  ton. 

Part  of  the  Gold  Hill  District  is  in  Stanly  County. 

UNION   COUNTY. 

The  mines  of  Union  County  are  readily  traceable  in  alignment  with 
Gold  Hill,  Silver  Hill  and  other  mines  of  Davidson  County,  and  are 
for  the  most  part  comprised  in  this  belt,  which  stretches  in  close  prox- 
imity io  the  "granite  area"  along  its  eastern  edge.  This  belt  com- 
mences about  the  middle  of  the  eastern  boundary  of  Davidson  County, 
and  extends  seventy-five  miles  southwestwardly  to  South  Carolina,  and 
most  of  this  stretch  from  Gold  Hill  southwardly  is,  with  scarcely  a 
break,  crowded  with  mines.  The  ores  are  readily  classified  into  aurif- 
erous and  argentiferous  galena,  auriferous  pyrite,  and  auriferous  slates 
with  disseminated  sulphurets. 

The  Washington  Mine,  eight  miles  south-west  from  Monroe,  is  the 
most  southerly  of  the  important  mines  of  the  county.  The  Wyatt  is 
one-fourth  mile  west  of  the  Washington,  and  is  probably  part  of  the 
same  vein.  The  Howie  is  one  mile  and  a  quarter  north-west  of  the 
Washington,  and  has  been  worked  to  a  depth  of  300  feet.  The  ore  is 
quite  like  that  of  the  Washington,  and  has  numerous  seams  of 
quartz,  which  is  generally  associated  with  the  richer  ores.  The 
yield  of  this  mine  has  been  estimated  at  $750,000.  The  vein  is  400 
feet  wide.  The  working  ores  assay  from  $2.05  to  $43.06  per  ton. 
Between  the  Howie  and  the  Davis,  two  and  a  half  miles  north-east,  are 
no  known  mines.  Then  occurs  the  Davis,  Phifer,  Lewis  and  Hemby 
nearly  in  the  same  alignment — a  stretch  of  nearly  two  miles.  The 
whole  deposit  has  been  enormously  rich,  especially  the  Phifer.  In  this 
immediate  neighborhood  are  the  Moore  Hill,  Harkness  and  Folger  Hill. 
One-half  mile  north-east  of  the  Hemby  is  the  Smart,  which  carries 
galenite;  and  one  mile  and  a  half  still  further  north-cast  is  the  Black, 
with  ores  assaying  $10.68  to  $168.31  per  ton.  The  Crump  Mine,  four 
miles  from  Stout's  Station,  is  noted  for  its  remarkable  pockets  of  splen- 
did nuggets.  North-east  of  the  Hemby  are  several  important  localities 
which  have  been  successfully  worked — the  Long,  Henry  Phifer,  Crowell 
(Bright  Light),  Fox  Hill,  Secrest,  Dulin,  Moore,  Stewart,  Lemraons  and 
others.     The  last  three  have  galenite. 

The  Stewart  is  toward  the  northern  part  of  Union  County.  It  has 
been  worked,  and  has  yielded  rich  ores.  The  assays  run  from  $14.01 
to  $48.89.     The  belt  sooa  passes  into  Cabarrus  County. 

CABARRUS  COUNTY. 

The  Rocky  River  Mine  is  ten  miles  south-east  from  Concord,  and 
includes  two  mines  with  seven  veins,  carrying  quartz,  iron  pyrites,  and 
galenite  ranging  from  $5.97  to  $67.42  per  ton.  The  Allen  Furr  Mine, 
two  and  a  half  miles  distant,  shows  a  large  amount  of  massive  iron 
pyrite,  with  a  little  galena. 


302  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  Reed  Mine  is  near  the  Rocky  River  Mine.  This  mine  was  the 
first  to  give  celebrity  to  the  gold  fields  of  the  Appalachian  range.  The 
first  nugget  was  found  in  1709,  and  the  largest  recorded  nugget  (weigh- 
ing twenty-eight  pounds  avoirdupois)  in  1803;  and  for  a  period  of  forty 
years  thereafter  a  steady  stream  of  nuggets  poured  forth  from  this  place. 
The  proportion  of  nuggets,  both  for  number  and  for  size,  has  never  been 
paralleled  on  this  side  of  the  continent.  There  are  also  several  veins 
on  this  tract  of  780  acres. 

The  Phoniix  Mine,  eight  miles  south-east  from  Concord,  had  reached 
a  depth  of  nearly  400  feet,  when  the  growing  difficulties  of  working  it 
led  to  its  abandonment.  The  Thies  chlorination  method  was  developed 
here  and  used  successfully  for  several  years  in  connection  with  the  ordi- 
narv  mill  treatment,  and  resulted  in  the  economical  extraction  of  gold 
to  a^  high  percentage  (90  to  95  per  cent).  The  whole  establishment  was 
a  model  of  skilful  and  successful  adaption  of  familiar  methods.  Assays, 
$8.27  to  S63.01  per  ton. 

The  Joel  Reed  Mine,  in  the  edge  of  Concord,  has  been  worked  suc- 
cessfully on  a  small  scale  for  a  long  time.  The  Allison  and  the  Mont- 
gomery mines,  two  miles  north  of  Concord,  have  been  profitably 
operated. 

The  McMakin  Mine  (or  Silver  Vein),  in  the  Gold  Hill  District,  had 
reached  a  depth  of  181  feet,  when  the  war  caused  a  suspension  of  work. 
The  ore  is  complex — blende,  galena,  pyrites  and  highly  argentiferous 
tetrahedrite.     Assays  run  from  12  to  500  ounces  of  silver  per  ton. 

This  Gold  Hill  District  is  the  most  noted  as  well  as  the  most  produc- 
tive in  the  State.  It  is  situated  in  the  south-eastern  part  of  Rowan 
County  and  the  north-eastern  corner  of  Cabarrus,  and  overlaps  slightly 
into  Stanly.  It  is  nearly  one  mile  and  a  half  long  from  north-east  to 
south-west,  and  two-thirds  of  a  mile  wide.  The  striking  characteristics 
of  this  district  are  the  great  permanency  of  the  viens  and  the  variet}' 
and  richness  of  the  ores.  The  entire  series  is  situated  on  the  narrow 
plateau  of  a  low-lying  north-east  and  south-west  ridge,  and  is  one  mile 
east  of  the  granite,  and  in  close  contact  with  a  diorite  group  to  the 
east.  The  prevailing  rock  is  a  chloritic  argillaceous  schist.  There  are 
at  least  ten  well-defined  veins  in  the  district,  prominent  among  which 
are  the  Randolph,  Hunnicutt,  Barnhardt,  Open  Cut,  Trautman,  and 
McMakin,  but  closely  associated  are  outlying  bodies,  which  may  be 
independent  veins. 

The  Randolj)!]  vein,  nearly  the  extreme  north-west  mine  of  the  group, 
is  par  excellence  the  Gold  Hill  Mine,  and  has  been  worked  a  linear  dis- 
tance of  1,500  feet,  and  to  a  depth  of  740  feet.  There  are  three  prin- 
cipal shoots  of  ore  which  have  been  exceedingly  rich,  but  in  the  lowest 
levels  they  have  become  of  lower  grade,  though  still  abundant. 

The  liarnhardt,  400  feet  to  the  east  of  the  Randolph,  is  worked  to  a 
less  depth.  The  ores  are  like  those  of  the  Randolpii.  The  Standard 
Vein  has  been  worked  to  a  depth  of  84  feet.  The  body  of  ore  is  com- 
paratively wide.  The  Trautman  gold  vein  was  worked  to  the  depth 
of  24  feet  as  a  gold  mine,  but  below  this  level  and  down  to  60  feet  a 
variety  of  lead  minerals  occurred.  This  vein  is  nearly  at  the  extreme 
south-east  of  the  group. 


GOLD    MINING    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  303 

DAVIDSON   COUNTY. 

Very  little  mining  work  is  now  done  in  this  county,  and  only  the 
more  important  mines  will  be  briefly  alluded  to. 

The  Lalor  (Allen)  and  Eureka  are  at  Thomasville. 

The  Conrad  Hill  is  seven  miles  east  of  Lexington,  with  seven  veins, 
of  which  s  X  have  been  worked,  ranging  from  two  to  fifteen  feet  in 
width.  The  vein  matter  is  quartz,  chalcopyrite,  with  various  copper 
minerals,  resulting  from  decomposition.  Carbonate  of  iron  is  a  com- 
mon accompaniment,  but,  excepting  the  latter,  the  mine  matter  is 
remarkably  destitute  of  all  distinctive  iron  minerals.  The  operations 
looked  to  a  final  production  of  gold  bullion  and  refined  ingot  copper. 
The  general  course  of  metallurgical  treatment  was  as  follows:  The 
mine  matter,  after  the  usual  cobbing,  etc.,  was  picked  and  the  richer 
ore  sent  to  the  copper  works.  The  residues,  after  passing  through  a 
Blake  crusher,  were  jigged,  and  the  best  material  added  to  the  above 
richer  material.  The  poorest  stntf  from  the  jigs  was  rejected,  and  the 
medium  grade  sent  at  once  to  the  stamp-mill  and  amalgamated  as 
usual.  The  tailings  were  concentrated  and  the  concents  sent  to  the 
copper  works.  The  material  rich  in  copper  was,  after  roasting,  smelted 
in  a  shaft  furnace  for  matte,  from  which,  after  resmelting,  etc.,  a  black 
copper  was  obtained  and  refined.  The  Hunt  &  Douglas  process  was 
found  to  be  more  efficient  than  smelting,  and  was  largely  used.  The 
reijidues  from  the  tanks,  now  mostly  peroxidized,  were  sent  to  the  bat- 
tery for  amalgamation.  The  greatest  depth  reached  was  4(j0  feet.  The 
assays  run  from  $13.39  to  $94.12,  and  from  a  trace  to  30  per  cent,  of 
copper. 

The  Silver  Valley  Mine  is  twelve  miles  south-east  from  Lexington. 
The  vein  is  from  five  to  twelve  feet  wide.  The  ore  is  galenite  with 
blende,  the  latter  sometimes  predominating.  This  large  per  cent,  of 
zinc  has  hitherto  been  the  only  difficulty  in  the  way  of  an  extensive 
employment  of  the  resources  of  this  mine;  and  the  variety  of  experi- 
ments, both  mechanical  and  metallurgical,  which  have  been  directed 
to  the  problem  of  treatment,  have  at  best  only  partly  ameliorated  the 
status,  as  is  shown  in  the  following  analyses  of  the  concents: 

Poor  Concents.  Rich  Concents. 

Gold,  per  ton...- .-.-        $4.13  $4.13 

Silver,  per  ton  .. . 9.58  38.06 

$13.71  $42.19 

Lead,  percent 11.18  47  62 

Zinc,  per  cent 27.70  12.68 

The  raw  ore  contains — 

Gold,  per  ton trace  $    4.13  trace 

Silver,  per  ton $13.30  150.15  $82.45 

$13  30  $154.28  $32.45 

Lead,  percent .     15.^9  55^25  38  80 

Zinc,  per  cent 31.45  11.24  32. 

More  recently  the  ore  has  been  u;ed  for  a  mixing  ore  at  the  smelting 
works  at  Thomasville. 


304  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

The  Silver  Hill  Mine  is  ten  miles  south-east  of  Lexington.  It  was 
originally  krovvn  as  the  Washington.  Here  are  two  nearly  parallel 
veins,  with  some  large  but  subordinate  bodies.  At  the  commencement 
the  vein  was  supposed  to  be  a  gold  vein,  but  at  the  depth  .of  eighty  feet 
it  was  found  that  the  vein  was  lead-bearing  silver  ore,  with  gold  as  an 
incidental.  Ultimately  the  ore  was  found  to  contain  argentiferous 
blende  and  galenite.     Analyses  show  for  the  compact  galena — 

Gold,perton $4  14  $6  20  $4.13 

Silver,  per  ton. 2.75  9.17  9.55 

$6.89     $15.37     $13  68 

Lead,  per  cent 23.94      56.72      12.57 

•Zinc,  per  cent 7.14     34.29 

After  a  great  variety  of  futile  efforts  to  treat  this  ore,  the  work  was 
abandoned.  This  mine  has  been  worked  to  the  depth  of  725  feet.  The 
latest  exploitation  of  this  mine  was  in  the  shallow  parts,  where  a  con- 
siderable body  of  "carbonates"  was  uncovered,  which  proved  of  fair 
grade  as  to  silver  contents.  The  difficulty  of  treating  this  ore,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Silver  Valley  ores,  is  so  great  as  to  preclude  it  from 
general  metallurgical  purposes. 

On  the  Ward  property,  two  miles  east  of  Silver  Valley,  are  four 
nearly  parallel  veins,  and  a  large  amount  of  surface  suitable  for 
hydraulic  treatment. 

The  Welborn,  two  miles  west  of  Silver  Hill,  carries  ores  greatly 
resembling  those  from  the  latter  mine.  The  Symons  Mine,  near  by, 
has  good  brown  ore. 

The  Davidson  (or  Emmons)  Copper  Mine  is  situated  two  miles  south- 
east of  Silver  Valley.  It  was  extensively  worked  for  copper  down  to  a 
comparatively  late  date,  and  was  exploited  to  a  depth  of  416  feet  on  the 
incline.     The  vein  is  six  feet  wide. 

The  Cid  is  one  mile  and  a  quarter  north-east  of  the  Emmons,  and 
has  ores  quite  similar,  but  apparently  may  carry  the  precious  metals 
to  a  somewhat  higher  per  cent. 

The  following  mines  may  be  mentioned  as  not  being  capable  of 
grouping:  The  Hamilton  and  the  Jesse  Cox  mines,  in  Anson  County, 
near  Wadesboro.     The  ores  of  the  former  assay  fairly  well. 

GUILFORD  COUNTY. 

In  Guilford  County  are  found  the  following  mines:  The  Fisher  and 
Millis  Hill,  Hodgins,  North  Carolina  (or  Fentress),  the  Gardner,  the 
Twin,  North  Slate  (McCullough),  Lindsay,  Jack's  Hill,  Deep  River, 
Beason,  llarland,  and  Beard.     None  of  these  are  now  worked. 

rowan:[county. 

The  mines  in  this  countv  in  the  slate  belt  have  been  described  in  the 
mention  of  the  Gold  Hill  District.  There  is  an  approximation  to  belts 
in  the  mines  of  this  county.  One  of  these  belts  is  found  to  the  south- 
west of  Salisbury,  comprising,  among  others,  the  Hartman,  Yadkin, 


GOLD  MINING  IX  NORTH  CAKULINA.  305 

Negus,  Harrison,  Hill,  Southern  Belle  (Aid rich),  Goodman,  Randleman, 
and  Roseman.  The  workings  in  most  of  these  have  been  compara- 
tively shallow,  and  only  one,  the  Aldiich,  is  now  operated. 

A  second  belt  occurs  two  and  a  half  miles  east  ftom  Salisbury, promi- 
nent among  the  mines  being  the  Dunn  Mountain,  New  Discovery,  the 
Reimer,  and  the  Bullion. 

A  third  belt  is  in  the  south-eastern  part  of  the  county,  where  there 
are  more  than  a  hundred  mineral  localities,  and  as  many  more  in  the 
adjacent  parts  of  Stanly  and  Caburrus.  The  mineral  veins  of  this  sec- 
tion are  of  fair  width,  and  all  carry  sulphurets  of  fair  grade. 

MECKLENBURG  COUNTY. 

Gold  is  probably  more  widely  diffused  in-Mecklenburg  County  than 
in  any  other  county  of  the  central  [art  of  the  State,  fur  in  this  area  of 
thirty  by  twenty  miles  are  well-nigh  one  hundred  mines.  Hardly  more 
than  an  enumeration  can  be  attempted.  Charlotte  is  the  centre  of  a 
mineral  district,  and  around  it  on  all  sides  are  mines,  among  them  the 
following:  Davidson,  Blake,  Point,  Parks,  Clark,  St.  Catherine,  Rudisil, 
Smith  &  Palmer,  McDonald,  F.  Wilson,  Huwell,  Trotter,  Carson,  Taylor, 
Isenhour. 

A  second  group  is  five  to  ten  miles  wfst  and  north-west  of  Ch-irlotte, 
embracing  the  Hayes,  McGee,  Brawley,  Frazer,  Hipp,  Campbell,  Todd, 
Arlington,  Capps,  McGinn,  Stephen' Wil><n,  Trautman,  Piim,  Aber- 
nathy,  Chapman,  Dunn,  Sloan,  McCorkle,  Cathey. 

A  third  group  is  found  around  the  Ferris,  six  miles  north  of  Char- 
lotte. Still  ancither  group  is  siiuated  in  Providence  township,  and 
about  Sardis  Church,  some  five  to  ten  miles  eastward  from  Chailotte; 
among  others,  the  Hunter  (two  veins),  Trediwick,  and  Rny  (three  veins). 

The  Pioneer  Mills  group  of  Cabarrus  County  extends  into  Mecklen- 
burg. Of  those  in  this  county  may  be  named  the  Johnson,  Sinson, 
Maxwell,  Black,  and  Harris.  Other  mines  on  the  extreme  eastern  edge 
of  the  county  are  in  tlie  "slate  belt." 

Of  the  above  mines  may  be  particuLndy  mentioned  those  on  David- 
son Hill,  one  mile  west  of  Charlotte,  three  in  number,  viz.,  the  David- 
son, Blake,  and  Point. 

The  Rudisil  and  the  St.  Catherine  are  respectively  the  northern  and 
southern  ends  of  the  same  vein,  and  have  been  worked  more  deeply 
and  extensively  than  any  others  in  the  county.  The  Rudisil  has 
reached  a  depth  of  ooO  feet,  and  enjoyed  for  several  years  a  large  degree 
of  prosperity  from  the  exploitation  of  its  three  chimneys,  especially 
from  the  "Big  Ore  Shoot."  The  subjoined  assays  show  the  character 
of  the  ores: 

Gold,  per  ton $6  21  $20.67  $73.74  $165.36 

Silver,  per  ton trace  .10  2.25  .35 


$6.21  $20.77  $75.99  $165.71 

The  St.  Catherine  has  reached  the  depth  of  460  feet  (155  feet  vertical 
and  305  feet  underlav,  ecjuivalent  to  370  feet  vertical).     In  this  mine 
20 


306  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

also  are  several  valuable  chimneys,  which  allowed  it  many  years  of 
profitable  work.     The  ores  range  in  value  from  ^10  to  $180  per  ton. 

The  Howell  Mine  is  thought  to  be  in  the  south  extension  of  the 
Rudisil.  It  has  been  worked  to  a  depth  of  thirty-two  feet.  The  vein 
is  two  to  four  feet  wide,  and  the  ores  assay  $5.64  to  $77.06  per  ton.  Its 
southerly  extension  is  the  Shuman,  which  is  now  worked  at  the  depth 
of  ninety  feet.     lis  ores  are  of  very  good  grade. 

The  iSmith  &  Palmer  Mine,  one  mile  south  of  Charlotte,  is  in  the 
Rudisil  neighborhood.  The  deepest  shaft  is  seventy-five  feet.  The 
vein  is  two  to  four  feet  wide.     The  ores  run  $5.17  to  $149.52  per  ton. 

The  Clark  is  two  miles  and  a  half  west  of  Charlotte,  and  appears  to 
have  two  vein  systems.     The  ores  have  generally  run  well. 

The  Ray  (Baltimore  and  North  Carolina)  has  five  veins  on  its  prop- 
erty of  360  acres. 

The  .Stephen  Wilson  Mine,  nine  miles  west  of  Charlotte,  has  ten  veins. 

The  Capps  Mine  is  five  miles  and  a  half  north-west  from  Charlotte. 
It  is  one  of  a  group  of  veins  closely  united,  of  which  two  are  converg- 
ent— the  Jane  (McGinn  gold  vein)  and  the  Capps.  The  Capps  has  an 
ascertained  length  of  3,000  feet,  and  the  Jane  fully  as  much.  The 
later  work  on  the  Capps  has  been  restricted,  and  finally  stopped,  from 
legal  considerations.  The  last  work  was  done  at  the  loO-foot  level. 
This  mine  has  been  noted  for  the  amount  of  ores  it  could  produce,  and 
for  their  superior  grade.  Tht-re  are  four  well-known  bodies.  The 
ordinary  run  of  ores  assayed  $11  72,  $25.94,  $50.35  and  SlS.Oo  per  ton, 
the  latter  being  a  strict  average  of  a  large  body. 

On  the  McGinn  mining  tract  are  three  veins,  one  of  which  is  a  gold 
vein,  and  one  a  copper  vein.  The  gold  vein  has  been  worked  to  a  depth 
of  150  feet.  Tiie  run  of  ores  is  as  follows:  Gold,  per  ton,  $6.52,  $12.13, 
$3.  $69.93,  $99.76.     Copper,  per  cent.,  4.55,  8.05. 

The  Cathey  Mine  is  cupriferous  as  well  as  auriferous. 

The  Chapman  Mine  is  eight  miles  north-west  from  Charlotte.  The 
developments  have  reached  a  depth  of  ninety-five  feet.  Both  brown 
ore  and  sulphurets  proved  good. 

The  Dunn  Mine  was  the  first  discovered  in  the  county,  and  not  long 
after  the  finding  of  the  nuggets  at  the  Reed  Mine.  It  lias  at  least  three 
veins,  two  of  which  have  been  worked  to  the  90-foot  level.  The  ores 
assay  fr.mi  $1.26  to  $128.44  per  ton 

The  Ferris  Mine  is  six  miles  north  from  Charlotte.  There  are  two 
veins,  and  a  third  on  an  adjoining  tract,  worked  in  the  same  connec- 
tion.    The  ores  have  been  of  more  than  average  grade. 

The  Harris  Mine  is  ten  miles  nearly  east  of  CJjarlotte.  The  stretch 
of  mining  properly  upon  which  this  mine  is  situated  is  known  to  have 
rich  gravel.  Surface  Hill,  one  of  these  localities,  is  famous  for  its  rich 
nuggets,  and  occasional  pockets  of  ore  are  found  of  extreme  richness. 

Tiie  Elliott  plantation,  five  miles  south  of  Charlotte,  has  several 
veins  of  auriferous  cop|)er  ore. 

The  Means  Mine  is  five  miles  north-west  from  Charlotte,  and  has  a 
vein  of  unusually  fine  free-milling  ore. 


GOLD    MINING    IN    NORTH    CAROLINA.  307 


GASTON  COUNTY. 

Only  two  mines. are  operated  in  this  county — the  Catawba  and  the 
Long  Creek. 

The  Catawba  is  one  mile  and  a  half  south  from  Kings  Mountain 
Station,  on  the  Air-Line  Raih^oad.  It  is  in  the  hmestone  belt.  When 
the  work  at  this  miue  had  reached  its  settled  condition,  the  ore 
body  was  found  to  be  limestone  charged  with  a  small  percentage  of 
sulphurets,  including  a  little  galenite,  and  the  very  rare  mineral  altaite. 
Nearly  the  whole  formation  is  gold-bearing,  and  sometimes  rises  to  a 
thickness  of  sixty  feet.  The  following  assays  show  the  character  of  the 
ores:  $5.65,  S3. 35,  $7.42,  $77.08.  The  great  width  of  the  ore  bodies,  the 
ease  with  which  the  ore  is  mined  and  milled,  and  the  small  amount  of 
sulphurets,  combine  to  make  even  the  low  grades  profitable. 

The  work  done  at  present  on  the  Long  Creek  (McCarter)  Mine  is  at 
the  bottom  of  the  main  shaft,  where  a  fine  body  of  pyrites  of  more  than 
ordinary  grade  is  found,  ancl  in  the  Whim  shaft?,  150  feet  south-west. 
Both  mining  and  milling  are  proceeding  vigorously.  This  property 
has  two  other  veins — the  Dixon  and  the  Asbury. 

Among  other  mines  in  Gaston  County  may  be  mentioned  the  Oliver, 
Farrar,  Rhyne,  Derr,  Rhodes,  Robinson,  Smith,  Crowder's  Mountain, 
and  Patterson. 

The  Dufhe  has  a  large  vein,  from  two  to  ten  feet  wide,  and  has  been 
worked  to  a  depth  of  110  feet,  at  which  depth  a  very  large  body  of  sul- 
phurets was  found,  assaying  from  $4.13  to  $16.99. 

LINCOLN  COUNTY. 

The  only  prominent  gold  mines  in  this  county  are  the  Hoke,  Burton, 
and  Graham. 

CATAWBA  COUNTY. 

The  only  mine  now  worked  is  the  England  Mine,  near  Newton,  and 
here  the  operations  are  not  extensive. 

The  Shuford  Mine,  four  and  a  half  miles  northeast  of  Catawba,  had 
for  a  long  period  been  a  large  producer  in  the  way  of  placer  work,  but 
the  gradual  exhaustion  of  these  placers,  and  the  failure  to  find  veins 
of  importance,  led  to  the  ultimate  abandonment  of  the  operations.  The 
A.  I).  Shuford  Mine  is  three-fourths  of  a  mile  south-east. 

DAVIE  COUNTY. 

The  only  prominent  mine  is  the  Butler  (or  County  Line)  Mine,  eight 
miles  south-west  of  jNIocksville. 

CALDWELL  COUNTY. 

At  Baker  Mine,  Caldwell  County,  there  are  four  veins,  and  the  ores 
contain  considerable  rich  galena.  Other  mines  near  by  are  the  Pax's 
Hill  and  the  Corpening.  The  extreme  north-west  corner  of  the  county 
has,  in  the  last  two  years,  received  considerable  attention,  but  no  impor- 
tant mines  have  yet  been  discovered,  though  some  promise  well.  Among 
these  are  the  Grigg,  Finzey  and  the  Rattlesnake. 


308  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

ASHE  COUNTY. 

No  mines  are  now  operattd  in  A>lie  County  except  the  Copper  Knob 
(Gap  (  reek).  On  this  tract  of  19U  acivs  are  ihree  veius,  one  of  which 
has  been  followed  to  a  <l(  p  h  of  1-iO  feet.  The  ore  seam,  var3'ing  from 
four  to  .><ix  inches  in  widtii,  is  fiilt  d  with  vitreous  copper  ore,  etc.,  and  a 
little  brown  ore.     The  contents  of  this  ore  are  shown  below: 

Gold,  per  ton - $B4  79  $57.36  $77  51 

Silver,  per  ton 19  72  11.24  35.^3 

$.-)4.51  $68.60  $112.84 

Copper,  per  cent 23.82  37.44 

THE   GOLD  GRAVELS  AND  ACCOMPANYING  VEINS  OF 
THE   PIEDMONT  AND   MOUNTAIN   REGIONS. 

The  £^old  gravels  in  Nortli  Carolina  have  a  distribution  as  wide  as 
the  crystalline  rocks.  The  deposits  in  Montgomery  County  have  already 
been  dtrsciibed,  but  those  of  the  mountain  stction  are  deserving  of  sepa- 
rate notice.  The  source  of  the  gold  of  the;e  gravels  is  to  be  found  in 
the  numerous  quartz  veins,  which  penetrate  the  altered  crystalline 
schists  in  innumerable  number,  and  which,  through  the  weathering 
process,  have  been  concentrated  in  basins  and  channels  and  beds  of 
streams.  The  youth  Mountain  area  is  c.  nipriscd  in  the  space  of  some 
two  hundred  square  miles  in  the  coterminous  parts  of  Burke,  McDowell 
and  Rutlierf  .rd  Countit-s.  The  mining  in  this  seciion  has  been  very 
extensive  for  seventy-five  years,  but  is  now  languishing.  The  opera- 
tions of  the  past  were  necessarily  confined  to  such  deposits  as  lay  near 
water,  and  when  these  were  exhausted  work  was  in  a  great  measure 
abandoned.  The  work  ot  the  future  will  be  on  the  deep-lying  gravels, 
which  require  ex[!ensive  treatment  with  powerful  hydraulic  means,  and 
on  the  treatment  of  the  numerous  veins  which  course  through  the  strata. 
Individual  veins  will  rarely  allow  of  profitable  treatment,  but  collect- 
ively will  frequently  justify  work  by  hydiaulics. 

The  folowing  localities  may  be  eniunerated:  The  Golden  A'^alley, 
Lawson  Smart,  Grayson,  and  Gamble,  in  Rutherford  County.  In  Burke 
County,  the  Hancock,  Glen  Alpine,  Carolina  Queen,  and  J.  C.  Mills. 
Tlie  latter  has  long  been  worked,  and  has  abundant  resources  for  much 
larger  operations. 

The  more  important  mines  in  McDowell  County  are  the  Vein  Moun- 
tain, Hum's  Mountain,  and  the  Granville.  The  first  and  second  are 
owned  and  ojierated  by  one  company.  The  tract  comprises  6,800  acres. 
Vein  Mountain  is  well  supplied  wiih  water,  and  extensive  work  has  been 
done  in  the  rich  gulche-s,  some  six  or  eight  in  number,  and  on  the 
veins,  of  which  twenty  or  more  have  been  uncovered.  The  following 
line  of  assays  indicate  the  character  of  these  ores:  ^2.5S,  '$4.1:!,.  $  ^21, 
$10.33,  $13.o7,  $74.48  per  ton.  The  Granville  Mine  contains  1,G00 
acres. 

The  production  of  this  mountain  area  is  estimated  to  have  been  at 
least  $2,000,000  to  $3,000,000. 


GOLD    MINING    IN    NOUTJI    CAK(JLIN.V.  309 

The  Polk  County  deposits,  sorn^  twenty-five  m  l^'S  sou'h-wesi,  appear 
to  be  an  extension  of  the  South  Mountain  area,  and  while  tiie  de[)osits 
are  valuable,  the  section  is  to  a  great  extent  la-king  in  those  natural 
advantages  which  in  tlie  South  Mountains  constitute  so  piominent  a 
feature  of  the  witrk.  The  Ittst  known  localises  are  the  Pattv  Abrams, 
Wetherbee,  Red  Springs, Tom  Arms.Splawn,  Ponder,  Riding, L.  A.  Mills, 
Carpenter,  Hamilton,  Neal,  Maclntire,  Double  Branch,  and  Prince. 
The  Splawn  has  a  raas-ive  vein  of  low-grade  quartz. 

Yein  mining  in  Rutherford  is  confined  to  the  Wallace  and  Idler, 
four  miles  north-east  r,f  Rulherfordton,and  to  the  Elwood  and  Nt.nanta, 
near  by.     The  ores  are  suli)hurets  of  fair  giade. 

No  mining  is  carried  on  in  either  Wilkes  or  Watauga,  though  limited 
areas  of  gold  gravel  are  found  in  both  counties. 

In  Henderson  Count}^,  at  Boylston  Cre^k,  gold  has  been  for  a  long 
time  obtained,  but  more  recent  explorations  have  disclos-  d  an  enor- 
mous deposit  of  gold-bearing  quariz  and  schists,  which  extend  in  a 
norlh-east  and  south  west  direction  for  a  distance  of  more  than  two 
miles,  and  probably  accompanied  by  parallel  bodies  of  ore.  'i  his  ore 
contains  a  small  per  cent,  of  sulphuiets,  and  is  of  relatively  low  grade, 
but  exceedingly  abundant. 

There  are  two  other  gold  regions — one  in  Cherokee,  the  other  in 
Jackson — where  gold  deposits  occur  of  sufficient  richness  to  warrant 
consideration. 

The  gold  of  Jackson  is  obtained  almost  entirely  from  |)lacers  siiuated 
along  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  near  Hogback  and  Chim- 
ney Top  Mountains.  The  most  important  locality  is  Fairfield  Val  ey, 
along  which  these  deposits  extend  for  several  miles,  and  are  b}^  no  means 
yet  exhausted.  The  origin  of  the  gold  is  doubtless  to  be  sought  in 
veins  in  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the  north  and  east,  along  the  base  of  which 
Georgetown  Creek  has  cut  a  deep  channel. 

The  deposits  in  Trau'^ylvania,  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  on  the  head 
waters  of  the  French  Broad,  are  supposed  to  be  a  continuation  of  this 
same  belt,  and  to  have  a  simi'ar  origin. 

In  Cherokee  County  the  gold  belt  is  in  the  sime  body  of  soft  slates 
and  schist,  which  carry  the  limestone  and  iron  (see  chapter  on  iron), 
and  is  found  both  in  placers  and  in  veins.  The  sands  of  Va  ley  River 
yield  profitably  through  a  large  part  of  its  course,  and  along  some  of 
its  tributaries.  South-east  of  the  limestone  is  also  a  series  of  "diggings " 
along  the  lower  slopes  of  the  mountains  from  near  Valleytown  to 
Vengeance  Creek,  a  distance  of  twelve  to  fifteen  miles.  Other  minor 
belts  are  also  known  in  this  section. 

Summary : 

Production  of  Precious  Metals  in  1891,  coining  value  (Report 

of  the  Director  of  the  Mint) |101,465 

Number  of  men  regularly  employed  in  1 893 882 

Number  of  men  occasionally  employed  in  1892 . . 100 

Number  of  stamps  in  1892 -.- 520 

Number  of  Chilian  and  other  mills  in  1892 10 

Smelting  establishments  in  1892 - -  -  -  1 


310  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

SILVER,  LEAD  AND  ZINC 

Do  not  abound  in  this  State.     As  a  rule  they  are  associated. 

Native  silver  has  been  found  in  some  quantity  at  Silver  Hill,  and 
has  been  observed  occasional h^  at  the  McMakin  and  Trautman  mines 
at  Gold  Hill,  and  at  Copper  Knob,  Ashe  Count3\  Sulphuret  of  silver 
is  also  reported  to  have  been  seen  at  the  last  mine;  chlorides  and  bro- 
mides, with  the  associated  minerals,  are  found  only  in  minute  quantity, 
and  are  of  no  value  commercially.  Silver  is  universally  present  with 
the  gold  in  proportions  ranging  from  twenty  to  five  hundred  one- 
thousandths  in  fineness. 

Zinc  ores  are,  in  this  State  universally  associated  with  galena,  and 
lead  ores  free  from  blende  are  rare. 

Brief  allusion  has  already  been  made  to  these  places,  and  they  are 
mentioned  again  merely  for  convenience. 

Auriferous  and  argentiferous  galena  with  blende  is  found  at  the 
Phifer,  Lewis,  Davis,  Hemby,  Smart,  Moore  and  Stewart  mines  in  Union 
County;  at  the  Rock}'^  River,  Allen  Furr  and  McMakin  in  Cabarrus; 
the  Trautman,  at  some  slightly  known  localities  in  Rowan,  and  in 
large  bodies  at  Silver  Hill  and  Silver  Valley  in  Davidson  County,  and 
at  the  Steele  and  Sanders  mines  in  Montgomery. 

Flint  Knob,  in  Wilkes,  and  Baker  Mine,  in  Caldwell,  may  also  be 
enumerated.  A  very  small  proportion  of  galenite  is  also  found  at  the 
Catawba  Mine  in  Gaston  County. 

COPPER. 

In  the  chapter  on  gold  the  mines  containing  co[)per  have  been  suffi- 
ciently discussed,  and  they  are  merely  summarized  here,  the  reader 
being  referred  to  that  chapter  for  assays  and  other  particulars.  Prom- 
inent among  these  locnlities  are:  the  Gardner,  North  State,  Lindsay, 
Fentress  and  Hodge's  Hill  in  Guilford;  the  Conrad  Hill,  Emmons  and 
Cid  in  Davidson;  in  Rowan,  the  Gold  Hill;  in  Cabarru«,  the  Phoenix 
and  Pioneer  Mills;  in  Mecklenburg,  the  Ray,  Ferris,  McGinn,  Llope- 
w^ell,  Cathey,  Elliott,  Crosby  and  Dunn;  in  Randolph,  the  Soencer; 
the  Clegg  and  Chick  in  Chatham ;  the  Foust  in  Alamance;  the  Burrell- 
Wells  in  Gaston;  the  Graham  in  Lincoln.  These  ores  are  auriferous 
as  well  as  cupriferous,  and  in  any  rational  treatment  both  metals 
should  be  taken  into  account. 

Of  the  copper  mines  which  carry  no  gold,  or  too  little  to  be  of  any 
account,  the  f')llowing  1  )calitie3  may  be  described: 

In  Granville  and  Person  Counties  is  a  remarkable  series  of  copper 
mines,  commencing  just  a  little  south  of  the  \"irginia  line  and  stretch- 
ing south-west  some  ten  or  twelve  miles.  Among  the  more  important 
mines  are  the  Royster,  Tuck  and  Silver  Nugget  mines  near  J^lne  W  ing, 
then  the  IloUoway,  two  and  one-half  miles  south-west,  with  two  veins; 
the  Mastodon  Mine,  near  the  Granville-Person  line,  the  Poole,  one- 
fourth  mile  west,  and  the  Buckeye  Mine;  the  Gillis  Mine,  the  earliest 
discovered  of  the  group,  is  one  mile  s^uth;  there  are  four  or  live  veins 
on  this  tract;  the  Copper  World  is  in  Person  County  one  and  one-half 


THE  IRON  ORES  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  311 

miles  south-west  from  the  Gillis,  and  still  further  south  is  the  Yancey 
Mine,  with  two  or  three  veins. 

At  none  of  these  mines  is  the  ordinary  yellow  sulphuret  of  copper 
abundant;  on  the  contrary'-,  the  ores  are  black  sulphuret  of  copper, 
vitreous  copper  ore,  or  some  one  of  the  allied  high-grade  copper 
sulphides.  At  the  Royster  (Blue  \^'ing)  Mine,  thirty-five  to  forty  men 
are  employed.  The  run  of  the  mine  assays  5^  to  8J  per  cent.,  which  is 
concentrated  to  20  to  50  per  cent;  about  fifty  tons  per  day  are  mined. 
The  product  is  shipped  to  the  Orford  Copper  Works. 

The  copper  belt  of  Jackson  and  Haywood  occupies  the  middle  por- 
tions of  those  counties,  from  the  head  waters  of  Tuckasegee  River  to 
Savannah  Creek,  the  principal  points  being  Waryhut,  Cullowhee  and 
Savannah  mines.  At  least  twenty  places  may  be  enumerated  in  this 
section  where  copper  ores  occur,  but  in  what  abundance  is  not  known. 

The  occurrence  of  copper  at  Copper  Knob,  Ashe  County,  has  already 
been  pointed  out.  The  most  remarkable  vein  in  the  State  is  at  Ore 
Knob,  in  Ashe  County;  it  has  been  proved  by  trial  shafts  for  nearly 
2,000  feet,  and  its  thickness  is  six  to  fifteen  feet,  and  sometimes  twenty. 
The  ores  of  the  upper  part  of  the  mine  were  of  very  high  grade,  but 
at  the  depth  to  which  the  work  was  finally  prosecuted  (400  feet),  the 
contents  had  fallen  to  4  or  5  per  cent,  of  copper,  which  did  not  allow 
of  profitable  work  at  the  lovv^  price  of  the  metal;  and  in  the  face  of  the 
competition  of  the  more  favorably  situated  Lake  Superior  mines,  opera- 
tions ceased  in  1882.  From  1873  to  1880,  the  results  of  a  very  com- 
plete smelting  and  chemical  plant  were  satisfactory. 

The  Peach  Bottom  or  Maxwell  Mine  is  in  the  western  part  of  Alleghany 
County.  The  ore  is  almost  entirely  chalcopyrite;  iron  pyrite  is  almost 
w^anting.  The  ore  is  scattered  in  grains  in  a  decomposed  gneis?,  and  is 
susceptible  of  easy  dressing  The  vein  has  been  operated  for  several 
hundred  feet  in  length,  and  to  a  depth  of  140  feet;  the  width  varies 
from  four  to  six  feet. 

On  Moseley's  farm,  in  Surry  County,  five  miles  from  Elkin,  is  a  vein 
carrying  yellow  copper  ore.  Near  Trap  Hill,  Wilkes  County,  on  the 
east  side  of  Bryan's  Knob,  is  a  bold  outcrop  traceable  for  nearly  four 
miles,  «nd  everywhere  carrying  pyrrhotite  and  pyrite,  with  a  small 
percentage  of  chalcopyrite,  frequently  auriferous. 

At  present  no  copper  is  produced  in  North  Carolina,  but  ores  are 
shipped  from  the  Granville  County  district.  The  present  price  of  cop- 
per, and  the  condition  of  the  trade,  are  not  favorable  to  the  speedy 
development  of  this  mineral  resource. 


THE  IRON  ORES  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

In  every  part  of  the  State,  and  in  great  variety,  are  found  magnetic  ore, 
hematite,  limonite,  and  some  siderite.  Those  from  the  older  formations 
are  commonly  free  from  phosphorus  and  sulphur,  but  sometimes  con- 
tain titanium,  etc. 


312  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

A  cursor}'  survey  of  the  gro^^rajjliical  occurrences  may  properly 
precede  this  chapter.  Tlie  ores  of  the  (^uateraary  are  limonite,  and  in 
deposits  shallow  and  of  limited  extent. 

In  ilie  Upper  Laurentian  and  the  Huronian  are:  Gaston  and  vicinity, 
in  Hahfax  County,  five  points;  Granville  and  Person  Counties,  several 
localities;  Durham  County,  beds  at  Red  Mountain;  and  at  Chapel  Hill 
in  Orange  County;  in  ('iiaiham  County,  in  six  veins  at  or  near  Ore 
Hill,  and  at  Buckhora  Falls;  in  Randolph  aud  Montgomery  Counties, 
in  at  least  twenty-five  localitie-. 

The  Tuscaroraand  Highfield  Ranges  in  Guilford  and  other  northern 
counties  occur  in  a  belt  more  than  thirty  miles  long.  Commencing  in 
Iredell  County,  and  extending  through  to  Gaston  County  and  far  into 
South  Carolina — a  stretch  of  nearly  sixty  miles — is  a  still  more  remark- 
able belt.  Near  Danbury,  St  >kes  County,  is  a  belt  quite  similar  to  the 
above. 

Surry  and  Yadkin  Counties;  have  several  localities;  Burke,  McDowell, 
Rutherford,  Caldwell,  Alexander  and  Wilkes  have  numerous  beds;  in 
Ashe  Counts^  are  three  belts;  in  Mitchell  County  is  the  famous  Cran- 
berry deposit.  Other  beds  of  maiiuetic  ore  exist  in  the  same  section, 
and,  in  truth,  so  numerous  are  these  localities  in  Buncombe,  Madison, 
Jackson,  Hayword,  Mitchell,  Macon  and  Swain  Counties,  that  they 
have  hardl}'  become  known  outside  of  their  re-^fiective  neighborhoods. 

The  iron  deposits  of  Cherokee  are  lar<^ely  of  the  limonite  variety. 
The  caal  measures  of  the  Deep  River  region  contain  beds  of  argillaceous 
cirbonates  and  bhick  band  ore.  It  will  be  observed  that  few  parts  of 
the  State  arr»  destitute  of  iron  deprtsiis.  These  Ujines  will  be  grouped 
geographically  for  more  detailed  statements. 

LIMONITE  ORES  OF  THE  EAST. 

The  earthy  accumulations  of  this  s-^ction  in  the  Quaternary  and 
Tertiary  frequently  contain  beds  (^f  earthy  or  nodular  limonite.  A 
deposit  occurs  in  Nash  County  near  the  Wilson  line — the  Blomary 
mine — where  blooms  have  b- en  made  on  some  scale.  At  Boney's, 
near  Wallace,  in  Duplin  Coun  y,  is  anoiher  dei'osit.  A  bed  is  also 
found  at  Rocky  Point,  Pender  County,  and  on  Tranter's  Creek,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Pi't.  Edgecombe,  Halifax,  Pitt  and  Robeson  show 
several  other  localities.  They  are  found  in  shallow  basins  of  slight 
extent,  and  rarely  corjtain  any  1-irgc  amount  of  ore,  which  ranges  in 
contents  from  40  lo  55  per  cent,  in  iron,  and  without  injurious  amounts 
of  either  .sulphur  or  [)hosj)i]ovus.  Picking  and  washing  raises  this 
occasionally  to  GO  per  cent.,  and  mak's  an  ore  suitable  for  shipping,  or 
for  trci'ment  in  the  C.italan  Forge,  in  the  [)roduction  of  superior  iron 
for  local  u.se. 

On  both  sides  of  the  Roanoke  River,  near  Gaston,  in  Halifax  County, 
are  five  localities  occurring  over  a  stretch  of  tcritory  five  mihs  long, 
and  the  scattered  "float  ore"  as  far  soul h  as  [lines'  plantation  would 
indicate  an  even  more  extended  rang*^.  Only  two  points  h ive  been 
worked,  the  ore  from  vvh'ch  is  of  good  gride  and  great  purity:  Iron, 
53.31  to  58  73  per  cent.;  sulphur,  none  to  0  03,  and  phosphorus,  none 


THE  IRON  ORES  OK  NORTH  CAROLINA.  313 

to  0.05  per  cent.;  it  inclines  to  be  granular,  and  consists  of  both  spec- 
ular and  magnetic  iron.  Otiier  less-known  places  are  near  Sniitlilield 
and  Leachburg,  and  at  Wliitaker's,  seven  milt  s  south-vve^t  from  Raleigii, 
at  botii  of  whicli  places  are  notable  outcrops  of  limoniie.  The  metallic 
resources  of  tbese  recent  foiinalions  have  been  little  investigat' d. 
f-.The  Backhorn  Mine,  on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  in  the  western  part  of 
Harnett,  is  a  magnificent  deposit  of  manganiferous  hematite  occurring 
on  a  hill  200  feet  high.  The  vein  is  from  twenty  to  thiitv-six  feet  thick. 
Tlie  ore  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  Spiegel  eisen,  and 
carries: 

Iron 55.00  to  66  50  i>er  cent. 

Manganese 5.23  to  15.87  per  cent. 

Phosphorus . .02  to      .04  per  cent. 

Sulphur 02  to      .06  per  cent. 

One  mile  south-west  is  another  locality  of  similar  character,  the 
Douglas  Mine;  two  miles  nortli  is  the  Dewar  Mine,  and  one  mile  north- 
west is  the  Pegram  Mine,  a  vein  of  magnetic  ore  wiih  four  to  six  per 
cent,  of  manganese.  The  iron  manufactured  from  these  ores  makes  a 
ver}^  superior  maierial  for  car-wheels,  etc.  This  range  extends  ten  to 
twelve  miles  south-west,  and  seveial  places  are  known  yielding  a  fine 
and  rich  magnetic  ore. 

,>The  Triassic,  immediately  adjoining  the  Q,uaternary  on  the  west, 
and  extending  for  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  fi'om  Dur- 
ham County  south-west  to  Anson,  and  with  a  recognized  width  of  fiv^e 
to  twenty  miles,  may,  from  an  econom'cal  point  of  view,  be  summarized 
in'the  following  pai'agraphs: 

At  Knap  of  Reeds,  in  Durham  County,  nearly  at  the  Granville  line, 
are  several  beds  of  siliceous  red  hematite,  viz: 

Iron      -. 33.15  per  cent. 

Sulpliur .03  per  cent. 

Ptio.spliorus 08  per  cent. 

nNear  Haywood,  in  the  angle  of  Haw  and  Deep  Rivers,  is  a  series  of 
beds  of  red  ochreous  ore  or  limonite.  This  ore  makes  its  appearance 
again  near  Sanford,  twelve  miles  south-east.  The  black  band  or  ball 
ores  or  kidney  ores  of  the  coal  measures  are  imbedded  in  and  coexten- 
sive with  the  coal  measures  at  Deep  River,  and  at  several  places  out- 
side of  this  locality.  The  shaft  in  the  Egypt  coal  mine  shows  three 
of  these  seams  of  ball  ore,  and  two  of  black  band;  these  beds  vary 
from  sixteen  inches  to  six  feet  in  width.  Most  of  these  ores  are  apt  to 
be  of  low  grade  in  iron,  and  to  carry  much  sulphur  and  })hosphorus. 
The  Evans  property  (two  veins)  is  six  miles  north  of  the  Gulf.  The 
ore  IS  hematite,  with  contents  in  iron  32  to  60  per  cent.,  and  hardly 
more  than  traces  of  sulphur  and  phosphorus.  The  Ore  Hill  Mine  at 
Ore  Hill,  on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and  on  the  Yadkin  Valley  Railroad, 
in  Chatham  County,  is  a  most  conspicuous  property.  Here  are  six  or 
more  veins,  two  or  three  of  which  may  possibly  reach  to  ten  or  fifteen 
feet  in  thickness  The  ore  ranges  from  limonite  to  hematite,  with  con- 
tents in  iron  47.87  to  58.70  per  cent ,  traces  of  phosphorus,  and  sulphur 
0.23  to  0.28  per  cent.     Connected  with  the  above  two  properties,  and  in 


314  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

close  proximity,  are  three  other  properties,  all  operated  to  supply  a 
fine  steel  plant  at  Greensboro.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  several  other 
localities  in  this  section  show  large  amounts  of  "float"  ore.  In  Gran- 
ville County,  at  Seth  Post-otfice,  eight  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Blue 
Wing,  is  an  iron  locality. 

In  the  Huronian,  in  Person  County,  at  Mount  Tirzah,  is  a  mine  of 
specular  iron,  which  during  the  late  war  supplied  a  furnace  near  by. 
A  rectnt  sampling  gives: 

Iron - --- 41.98  per  cent. 

Sulphur - trace. 

Phosphorus - 0. 14  per  cent. 

Some  six  miles  south-west,  in  Durham  County,  at  Red  Mountain,  is  an 
iron  locality.  A  tine  quality  of  magnetic  iron  is  found  on  the  east 
side  of  Plaw  River  at  Tyrrell's  Mount,  where  the  vein  is  reported  to  be 
three  to  four  feet  wide;  also  at  Cheek's  farm,  three  miles  south-east  of 
Chapel  Hill.  A  fine  micaceous  hematite  is  found  in  Orange  County 
near  the  mouth  of  Collins'  Creek.  Five  miles  south-east  of  Hillsboro 
a  fine  vein  of  magnetite  is  traceable  for  one-fourth  mile.  Hematite  is 
also  found  on  the  Hastings  place,  and  at  the  railroad  bridge  over  the 
Eno  River,  one  half  mile  west  of  Hillsboro;  also  in  four  other  localities 
from  three  to  five  miles  west  and  south-W'  st  of  the  same  town.  Surface 
specimens,  both  of  nuignetic  and  hematite,  from  various  parts  of  the 
county  indicate  large  underground  stores. 

But  the  most  notable  ore  bank  in  Orange  County  so  far  opened  is  at 
Chapel  Hill;  it  is  situated  on  a  hill  one-half  mile  north  of  Chapel 
Hill,  and  more  than  200  feet  above  the  creek  at  its  base.  The  vein 
carries  hematite,  and  is  seven  to  ten  feet  wide  at  the  main  shaft,  and 
with  an  enlargement  to  tweii'y-five  or  thirty  feet  near  the  second  shaft. 
A  second  vein,  five  or  six  feet  wide,  crosses  the  former  vein  near  shaft 
No.  1.     The  average  analysis  of  the  ore  is: 

Iron - fi  1. 77  per  cent. 

Pliospiiorus - - 0.02.i  per  cent. 

Hulphur 0.11  per  cent. 

There  are  surface  indications  on  the  hills  both  to  the  northeast  and 
to  the  south-west  for  several  miles,  whic'i  seem  to  connect  this  occur- 
rence at  Chapel  Hill  with  the  Evans  vein  in  Chatham  County,  which 
has  similar  ore. 

The  ores  of  Montgomery  and  Randolph  are  found  in  the  same  great 
Huronian  slate  belt  that  constitutes  the  most  notable  feature  of  the 
middle  region  of  the  State,  both  geographically  and  mineralogically. 
At  least  twenty-five  localities  are  known  in  the-e  limits  where  con- 
siderable amounts  of  iron  ere  liave  been  found,  but  so  rugged  is  the 
country,  and  .so  destitute  of  cheap  means  of  transportation,  that  hitherto 
there  has  been  little  inducement  to  ex[)loit  or  even  to  search  for  them. 
The  best  known  of  these  ores  occur  at  Franklinsville,  Randolph 
County,  and  another  vein  has  been  oi)ened  in  the  same  county  at 
Asheboro.  Both  carry  specular  hematite,  and  some  of  the  strongest 
and  most  highly  prized  iron  obtained  during  the  war  came  from  this 


THE    IRON    ORES    OF    NORTH    Cx\.ROLINA.  315 

locality,  and  was  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  shafting,  etc.  Near 
Troy  is  an  occurrence  of  hematite  and  one  of  magnetite. 

One  of  the  most  persistent  ranges  or  series  of  beds  of  iron  ore  in  the 
State  crosses  the  county  of  Guilford  in  a  north-east  and  south-west 
direction,  passing  about  ten  miles  north-west  of  Greensboro,  near 
Friendship.  It  extends  from  the  head  waters  of  Abbott's  Creek,  in 
Davidson  County,  entirely  across  Guilford  to  Haw  River,  in  Rocking- 
ham (and  possibly  beyond),  a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  making  its 
appearance  on  nearly  every  plantation  and  hillside.  The  ore  is  mag- 
netite, and  everywhere  titaniferous.  About  three  miles  to  the  north- 
west occurs  a  similar  and  nearly  parallel  belt,  and  the  relative  positions 
of  the  two  make  it  highly  probable  that  they  are  the  exposed  edges  of 
a  synclinal  basin  of  three  miles  in  width,  the  Tuscarora  Range  being 
the  south-eastern  and  the  Highfield  or  Shaw's  the  north-western.  The 
aver.ige  width  of  the  veins  is  claimed  to  be  fully  four  feet. 

The  range  of  contents:  is  shown  below  in  the  average  often  samples: 

Iron - ...54.61  per  cent. 

Titanium 8.07  per  cent. 

Sulphur  and  phosphorus slight. 

There  are  also  other  iron  localities  in  Rockingham  which  do  not 
belong  to  this  range:  for  example,  near  IVfadison  and  two  miles  below 
Morehead's  factory  is  a  ten-incti  seam  of  red  hematite  of  high  grade. 

The  Central  Lower  Laurentian  belt  from  Guilford  to  Mecklenburg 
Counties  shows  no  deposits  of  any  extent,  though  surface  specimens 
are  found  in  many  places. 

In  the  counties  of  Gaston,  Lincoln  and  Cataw})a  is  one  of  the  most 
extensive  ore  ranges  in  the  State,  as  well  as  the  best  known,  for  it  has 
been  extensively  worked  for  nearly  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  years, 
and  has  been  the  principal  source  of  the  domestic  supply  of  iron 
during  that  period.  The  ores  are  sometimes  magnetic,  but  more  fre- 
quently hematitic,  and  are  found  in  the  talcose  and  quartzitic  schists, 
sometimes  called  the  Kings  Mountain  slates (Iluronian).  For  a  detailed 
description,  see  "Ores  of  North  Carolina,"  p.  155.  This  body  of  schists 
gradually  narrows  towards  the  north-east,  and  the  range  extends  only 
three  to  four  miles  north-east  of  the  Catawba  River;  to  the  south  it 
extends  into  South  Carolina.  This  range  naturally  divides  itself  into 
two  sections— the  northern  in  Lincoln  and  Catawba,  the  southern  in 
Gaston  and  in  South  Carolina. 

Commencing  with  tlie  most  northerly  of  the  well-known  and  pro- 
ductive btds  in  Catawba  County,  ihe  success'on  is:  Pcwell  ore  bed, 
Littlejohn,  Abernathy,  Mountain  Creek,  Deep  Hollow,  Tillman,  Beard, 
Morrison,  Robinson,  St  >newall,  Brevard  and  Big  Ore  Banks;  the  last 
four  are  in  Lincoln.  Several  furnaces  and  forges  have  been  supplied 
with  ore  from  these  beds,  p.irticularly  the  Big  Ore  B  ink,  for  a  very 
long  period,  and  the  quality  of  the  iron  manufactured  has  always  been 
good.  Limestone  for  fluxing  is  found  in  an  adjacent  parallel  series  of 
beds.  Only  charcoal  iron  has  thus  far  been  made.  Ihese  beds  occur 
with  well-marked  characteristics,  as  do  also  the  horizons  connected 
with  tliem.  The  ore-s  are  mostly  of  a  schistose  structure,  and  may  be 
escribed  as  magnetic  or  specular  schists,  and  commonly  recjuire  some 


316  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

dres-ing  before  use  in  the  furnace.  For  a  considerable  part  of  their 
course  there  are  two  parallel  beds,  the  corabineiJ  thickness  being  from 
four  to  twelve  feet,  and  in  the  Big  Ore  Bank  occasionally  eighteen 
feet.     The  following  figures  show  the  general  range  of  the  ores: 

Big  Ore  Bank.  Stonewall  Bank.  Powell  Bank. 

Iron 67.12  per  cent.;  55  40  per  cent  ;  64.21  per  cent. 

Phosphorus.-  .006  per  cent. ;               .011  jier  cent. ;  .009  per  cent. 

Sulphur .13  per  cent. 

Owing  to  the  system  of  working  by  leases  only  a  moderate  depth 
has  bten  reache  1.  iS^me  subordinate  beds  as,  for  instance,  tlie  Paine 
in  Catawoa,  and  the  Graham  in  Lincoln,  are  a  little  removed  from  this 
series,  wdiile  several  well-known  mines  in  these  counties  are  entirely 
remote,  viz.:  The  Barringer,  in  Catawba  County,  six  or  seven  miles 
north-east  of  the  Fortiy  Bank,  with  others  in  the  same  viciniiy;  and 
in  Lincoln  a  limonite  locality  two  miles  east  of  Lincolnton,  another 
like  body  seven  miles  north-west,  and  one  five  miles  south  of  Cottage 
Home. 

The  south  part  of  this  range  in  Gaston  is  likewise  crowded  with 
equally  valuable  min-s.  Among  th(-m  is  the  Co-tner,  five  miles  south- 
we>t  of  D.illas,  with  a  vein  ten  to  twelve  ft  et  wide;  the  Ellison,  one 
mile  south-west;  the  Fergu.-on,  one  and  one-half  mihs  further  on;  the 
Fullenwider,  oneand  one-half  miless'illfarthersouth-west.  The  Yellow 
Ridge  lies  two  miles  .-^outh-east  of  Kings  Mountain  village.  The  Moun- 
tain Ore  Bank  is  one  mile  nearly  north-west  from  the  Ferguson,  with  a 
vein  four  to  e'ghtfeet  wide;  the  Ormond,  one  and  one-half  miles  in  the 
same  direction.  Tlie  latter  has  a  magnificent  vein  eight  to  sixteen  feet 
thick,  and  even  more  occasionally.  This  mine  is  a  large  producer  of  a 
verv  pulverulent  ore  of  high  grade  and  purity,  admirably  ada[)ted  for 
"Fix"  and  largely  used.  The  subjoined  analyses  show  the  general 
character  of  these  ores: 

Cost*er.       f^Uison.        Yellow  Kidgo.    Mountain.  Ormond. 

Powder  Ore.  Block  Ore. 

Iron  .    66  75  52.61  61.743  57.50  65.67         67  «7 

Phosi)h()rus none  none  trace  none  013  .023 

Sulphur,  per  cent  ..none  none  .033  none  trace        trace 

The  Atlanta  and  Charlotte  Railroad  passes  in  clo=e  proximity  to  all 
these  Gaston  County  beds.  Tlie  Ormond  is  connec'ed  by  a  branch  road, 
over  which  heavy  shipments  of  ore  are  daily  made  to  Birmingham 
and  to  Richmond  at  very  s;it'sfactory  rates  to  the  producers.  No 
furnaces  are  at  present  in  operation. 

The  ores  of  Yadkin,  Surry  and  Stokes  Counties  occupy  a  relation  to 
the  Pilot  and  Sauralown  Mountains  similar  to  that  of  the  Gaston  and 
Lincoln  ores  to  the  Kings  Mountain  Range,  and  divide  themselves 
into  two  groups. 

Tlie  Stokes  magnetic  be't  is  fully  twenty  miles  long  and  four  to  five 

wide,  in  a  series  of  parallel  b(  ds.     There  is  a  good  body  of  ore  on  the 

Lee  Nelson  place  five  milts  north-west  of  Danbury — the  Grandlalher 

Ore  B.nk: 

Iron .47.23  per  cent. 

Titanium 12  per  cent. 

Sulphur 006  per  cent. 

Phosphorus 081  i>er  cent. 


THE  IRON  ORES  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  317 

The  Rogers  Ore  Bank,  two  and  one-half  miles  north  of  Danbur}',  is 
eight  feet  thick;  the  ore  is  magnetic,  and  has  been  largely  worked. 
Analysis: 

Iron 49.03  to  65.34  per  cent. 

Phosphorus.. none. 

Sulphur trace. 

The  Danbur}'  Furnace  property,  adjoining  the  town  of  Danbury, 
has  several  veins  of  high-grade  and  pure  magnetic  iron;  among  ihem 
is  the  Kiser  Bank.  Other  localities  of  rich  magnetic  iron  ores  are 
known  in  the  Sauratown  iMountains  among  the  head  waters  of  the 
Dan  River,  but  have  not  yet  been  opened.  (Jn  the  northern  boundary 
of  this  belt  is  a  zone  of  brown  hematite. 

The  magnetic  belt  above  alluded  to  extends  south-west  into  Yadkin 
County.  The  most  prominent  of  these  occurrences  are,  the  Hobson 
mine  (several  veins),  ranging  in  contents  from  40  to  60  per  cent,  iron, 
and  practically  free  from  either  sulphur  or  phosphorus;  among  these 
are  the  Sand,  Black,  Hutchins,  Upper  and  Shield  Banks.  Magnetic 
ore  is  also  found  at  East  Bend,  and  across  the  Yadkin  River  at  Max- 
well's, in  Davie  County,  near  -its  southern  boundary,  and  at  Allen's, 
seven  and  one-half  miles  north-east  of  Mocksville. 

In  Surry  County,  on  Tom's  Creek,  a  few  miles  north-west  of  the 
Pilot  Mountain,  is  a  deposit  of  magnetite  which  has  been  worked  to 
supply  a  small  forge  near  by  for  more  than  one  hundred  years. 
Hyatt's  bed  is  near  the  junction  of  Bull  Run  Creek  and  Ararat  River; 
Williams'  ore  bed  is  four  miles  north-west  of  Rockford. 

The  Stanly  hematite  ore  beds,  of  considerable  width,  are  between 
Elkin  and  Dobson.     The  analysis  gives: 

Iron 52. 63  to  54. 52  per  cent. 

Sulphvir 35  to      .41  per  cent. 

Phosphorus ....  trace.  _ 

The  resources  of  Forsyth  County  have  never  been  examined. 

Magnetic  iron  is  found  occasionally  in  Alleghany  County.  Only 
two  places  have  attracted  attention— in  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
county  in  the  angle  between  Surry  and  the  Virginia  line,  and  at 
Atwood's,  four  miles  south-west  of  S|iarta.  ^■•^iU 

There  are  many  valuable  beds  of  limonite  extending  from  the  north- 
east foot-hills  of  the  South  Mountains  in  a  north-east  direction  into 
the  Brushy  Mountains.  From  Jacobs'  Fork  of  Catawba  River,  near 
the  eastern  border  of  Burke,  across  the  Catawba  and  by  way  of  Gun- 
powder Creek  to  the  waters  of  Middle  Little  River,  near  the  eastern 
border  of  Caldwell,  and  beyond  to  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Brushy 
Mountains,  the  same  ore  occurs  with  similar  associations.  Near  the 
town  of  Hickory  is  a  five-foot  bed,  and  three  miles  west  is  the  Propst 
mine.  Limonite  occurs  on  Chestnut  Hill,  near  Icard's,  and  maguftic 
iron  six  miles  south-west  from  Morganton.  At  Ore  Knob,  near  by,  are 
several  outcrops  of  red  hematite.  A  like  series  of  limonite  beds  are 
found  on  Gunpowder  Creek.  So  numerous,  indeed,  arc  these  beds  that 
only  an  enumeration  can  be  attempted.    Middle  Little  River,  Mclntyre's 


318  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Mountain,  Bald  Mountain,  and  Miry  Branch,  show  outcroppings  for  a 
distance  of  two  to  three  miles.  On  Steele  Creek,  in  the  north-west 
part  of  Burke,  are  outcrops  of  magnetite  and  hematite.  Limonite  also 
occurs  at  Brindletown.  A  bed  of  superior  magnetite  is  found  on  Warrior 
Creek,  not  far  from  Patterson's  in  Caldwell,  which  is  traceable  for  hun- 
dreds of  yards;  a  like  ore  is  aho  reported  to  exist  in  large  quantities 
on  Mulberry  Creek.    Fine  martite  schist  is  found  at  Richlands,  analyzing : 

Iron - 67.33  per  cent. 

Phosphorus — none. 

Sulphur - 06  per  cent. 

At  Bull  Ruffin,  some  ten  miles  north-east  of  the  above,  in  the  edge 
of  "Watauga  County,  is  a  similar  ore  of  the  very  highest  character: 

Iron - - -   -  67.67  per  cent. 

Phosphorus trace. 

Sulphur -  - .025  per  cent. 

Magnetic  iron  is  found  at  Farthing's  farm,  five  and  one-half  miles 
north  of  Lenoir,  containing: 

Iron 57.14  per  cent. 

Titanium .• none. 

This  whole  range  passes  into  Surry  County,  seventy-five  miles  dis- 
tant, where,  at  Fisher's  Peak,  near  the  Virginia  line,  beautiful  martite 
schist  is  also  found.  Titaniferous  iron  ore  is  found  on  Curtis'  farm, 
near  Richlands,  in  a  bluff  at  least  fortj^-five  feet  thick: 

Iron -  -  -  37. 10  per  cent. 

Titanium 36.40  per  cent. 

Phosphorus trace. 

Some  attention  has  lately  been  given  to  the  limoni'es  of  McDowell 
County,  in  the  south-west  part  of  Linville  Mountains.  Among  these 
localities  are  Connolly's,  Flemming's,  Pinnacle,  Paddy's  Creek,  in  the 
gap  on  top  of  Pinville  Mountains;  at  Shortoif  Mountain  and  extend- 
ing on  to  Carson's  Ore  Bank  of  the  North  Fork;  also  in  Peter's  Cove, 
near  the  Yancey  iron  mines,  where  magnetic  iron  occurs;  magnetite  is 
also  occasionally  found  at  other  points  in  this  mountain.  There  is  an 
abundance  of  limestone  near  by  for  fluxing.  Limonite  also  occurs  in 
the  same  range,  at  Ore  Mountain,  just  over  the  line  in  Buncombe 
County,  In  Mitchell  County  are  several  beds  of  limonite  one  mile 
south-east  of  Bakersville,  at  McKinney's;  also  four  miles  north-west 
of  Flat  Rock.  But  the  abundant  and  pure  magnetites  of  Mitcliell  are 
the  chief  resources  of  this  section.  Here,  on  tlie  western  slope  of  the 
Iron  Mountain, and  three  miles  from  the  Tennessee  line, is  found  at  Cran- 
berry the  largest  deposit  of  magnetite  in  this  section.  The  prevalent 
rock  of  the  mountains  here  is  hornblende,  schists,  etc.:  the  ore  is  a 
]»ure  magnetite  associated  with  pyroxene  and  epidote.  The  length  of 
this  outcrop  is  about  1,500  feet,  and  its  width  200  to  800  feet.  The 
operations  are  quarrying,  rather  than  mining.  The  ore  is  practically 
free  from  phosphorus  and  sulphur,  and  with  some  care  in  handling 
can  be  brought  up  to  60  or  08  per  cent,  of  iron,  though  the  shipments 
ona  large  scale  are  somewhat  lower.  The  purity  of  the  ores  has  given 
them  a  wide  reputation,  and  they  are  largely  used  for  mixing. 


THE  IRON  ORES  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  319 

Other  beds  of  magnetite  occur  in  the  same  neighborhood  along  the 
face  of  the  same  mountain  in  both  directions  from  Cranberry,  and 
there  is  an  extensive  range  of  iron  ore  beds  in  this  region  of  the  greatest 
value.  At  Flat  Rock,  five  miles  south-east  of  Bakersville,  is  a  large 
vein,  and  at  Rock  Creek,  the  same  distance  west  on  Rock  (Jreek,  are 
several  beds.  Unexplored  beds  are  known  near  Bakersville,  and  two 
beds  to  the  north-west,  near  the  State  line,  and  on  the  head  waters  of 
Big  Rock  Creek  at  the  foot  of  Roan  Mountain.  This  region  is  of  the 
highest  promise,  and  with  adequate  facilities  would  afford  enormous 
supplies  of  ore  to  this  most  important  industry. 

The  inaccessibility  of  Ashe  County  will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past, 
and  the  hope  of  profitable  investment  has  stimulated  a  more  careful 
examination  of  this  section,  both  by  private  parties  and  by  the  State 
and  National  governments.  So  far  as  the  results  have  been  made  pub- 
lic, the  iron  ore  deposits  seem  to  group  themselves  into  three  nearl}'- 
parallel  ranges. 

The  tirst  is  found  just  to  the  north-west  of  the  North  Fork  of  New 
River,  which  crosses  the  county  in  the  center  and  nearly  diagonally 
from  south-west  to  north-east.  This  Ballou  or  River  Belt  is  about  six 
miles  long,  and  is  cut  in  iis  center  by  Little  Helton  Creek.  The  veins 
range  from  two  to  twelve  feet  in  thickness,  and  the  ore  is  magnetite  of 
high  grade,  ranging  from  45.5  to  67.35  per  cent,  of  iron,  and  traces 
only  of  sulphur  and  phosphorus;  the  localities  are  Brown's,  Ballou's, 
Gentry's  and  Lundford's. 

The  second  belt — the  Red  Hill  or  Poison  Branch  belt — commences 
near  the  Virginia  line  where  it  is  cut  by  the  North  Fork,  and  extends 
in  a  south-west  direction  nearly  across  the  county.  The  more  impor- 
tant developments  are,  commencing  on  the  nortli-east,  Lee  Pugh's, 
J.  L.  rugh's,Smith's,Dancy's,  Black's,  Red  Hill, Helton  Knob,  McClure's, 
Blevin's,  French's  and  Hampton's — a  distance  of  perhaps  fifteen  miles. 
The  veins  range  in  width  from  two  to  ten  feet,  and  the  ore  is  mostly 
magnetic,  sometimes  manganiferous,  of  great  purity  and  satisfactory 
richness.  The  titaniferous  belt  is  in  the  north-west  part  of  the  county, 
commencing  near  the  head  waters  of  Little  Helton  Creek,  near  the 
Virginia  hne,  and  extending  nearly  five  miles.  It  is  about  three  miles 
north-west  of  the  Red  Hill  belt.  The  prominent  points  are  Young's, 
McCarter's,  Pennington's  and  Kirby's.  The  width  of  these  veins  is 
considerable,  ranging  from  eight  to  twenty-five  feet.  The  contents  in 
iron  are  satisfactory  and  the  purity  is  assured,  but  titanium  is  almost 
invariably  present,  sometimes  exceeding  eight  per  cent. 

The  iron  ores  of  the  south-west  mountain  section  from  Buncombe 
westward  to  Cherokee  are  imperfectly  known,  and  only  an  enumeration 
of  places  will  be  attempted.  In  Madison  County  magnetite  is  found 
on  the  head  waters  of  Ivy  Creek,  and  so  also  is  titaniferous  iron;  mag- 
netite also  occurs  at  the  Smith  Mine  near  the  mouth  of  the  same  creek, 
and  on  LTpper  Spring  Creek;  on  Bear  Creek,  below  Marshall;  on  the 
eastern  fork  of  Big  Laurel ;  and  at  the  Redman  and  at  the  Sikes  mines, 
near  Marshall.     Prof.  C.  D.  Smith  locates  three  zones  in  this  county. 


320  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Five  miles  from  Asheville  is  found  a  bed  of  limonite  several  feet 
thick,  and  a  range  of  limonite  beds,  associated  with  the  limestone, 
extends  into  Transylvania. 

In  the  north-west  part  of  Haywood,  on  Wilkins  Creek,  is  a  bold 
outcro))  of  magnetite.  There  are  also  magneiiies  and  hematites  in 
various  localities  of  Jackson  and  Macon,  where  extensive  deposits  are 
reported.  Magnetite  is  found  in  Macon  at  Fish  Hawk  Mnuniains,  and 
atE  lijay  Creek,  south-east  of  Franklin;  at  Angel's  and  at  Washburn's  at 
the  hfcicl  of  Cartoogajay  Creek.  Limonite  is  also  found  at  Quallatown 
in  Jackson  County. 

No  county  in  North  Carolina  contains  so  large  stores  of  iron  ore  as 
Cherokee,  but  it  is  mostly  limonite.  The  marble  beds  of  Valley  and 
Notteley  Rivers  are  everywhere  accompanied  by  beds  of  this  ore,  there 
being  sometimes  as  many  as  four  parallel  beds.  The  breadth  of  this 
iron  and  marble  range  is  two  to  three  miles.  The  river  valley,  extend- 
ing in  a  north-east  and  south-west  direction,  is  about  twenty-four  miles 
long,  and  there  is  a  bifurcation  of  it  some  six  or  eight  miles  above 
Murphy,  the  eastern  branch  pursuing  a  more  southerly  course  some 
six  miles  or  more,  miking  a  series  of  deposits  of  thirty  miles  in  length. 
At  sevt-ral  points  there  are  reduplications.  At  Valleytown  there  are 
two  parallel  beds;  at  the  Parker  Gold  Mine  are  three  beds.  At  Col- 
bert'?;,  six  or  seven  miles  above  Murphy,  are  iron  beds,  also  a  large 
bed  at  Mrs.  Leatherwood's;  at  Mrs.  Hayfs'  is  another  bed,  and  several 
beds  or  series  of  beds  between  this  and  Murphy.  One-half  mile  below 
Murph}'^  are  four  limonite  bed^,  and  beds  at  several  other  points  down 
the  river.  On  the  eastward  branch  of  the  bifurcation  above  alluded 
to,  are  similar  beds  at  something  like  a  dozen  points  as  far  to  the  east- 
ward as  Brasstown  Creek.  The  c[nantity  of  ore  is  immense  and  widely 
distributed,  and  it  is  of  fair  grade  in  its  iron  constituents. 

These  notes  are  necessarily  brief,  and  have  been  confined  to  those 
points  which  have  been  more  or  less  investigated  and  are  compara- 
tively accessible;  nevertheless,  the  points  mentioned  are  but  a  p;irt  of  a 
large  whole.  The  reader  who  desires  to  look  into  the  current  infor- 
maiion  will  find  many  detnils  in  the  "Ores  of  North  Carolina,"  and  in 
the  various  bulletins  published  by  the  State. 

MANGANESE. 

Ores  of  manganese  are  not  abundant  in  North  Carolina,  though 
found  to  some  extent  in  connection  with  gold,  silver  and  iron  ores. 
There  is  a  very  promising  bed  of  psilnmolane  in  Caldwell  Cf  unty,  five 
miles  west  of  Lenoir,  and  at  Perkins' Mine,  ten  miles  w<  st  of  Lenoir, 
is  anotlier  bed  of  oxide  of  manganese  one  foot  thick.  A  large  bed  is 
reported  at  Lowe's,  in  Surry  County.  At  Blue  Ridge  Gap,  in  Mitchell 
County,  is  a  bed  of  pyrolnsite.  A  small  seam  occurs  near  D.inhury, 
Stokes  C>unty.  The  manganiferous  ores  of  Buckhorn  Mine  hive  been 
described  under  the  head  of  Iron.  A  manganese  ore  from  Jai-kson 
gave  manganese  53  G4  per  cent.  There  {<  a  series  of  beds  associated  with 
the  Kings  Mountain  schists  of  Gaston  and  Lincoln;  a  sample  fiom  near 


ECONOMIC    NflXEUALS.  321 

Briggs'  Forge  gave  manganese  21.450  per  cent.  A  similar  vein  is 
found  near  Graham's,  in  Lincoln  County,  which  appears  to  be  nearly 
six  feet  thick;  a  like  vein  (or  probably  the  same  vein)  is  found  near 
Vesuvius  Furnace,  which  contains  manganese  13.50  per  cent.,  and  was 
used  as  a  good  mixing  ore. 

CHROMIC  IRON. 

This  ore  is  found  to  some  extent  with  the  iron  ores  of  various  parts 
of  the  State,  especially  in  the  Tuscarora  Range  in  Guilford,  and  also 
with  the  chrysolite  beds  of  Jackson,  Y.ancey  and  Mitchell  Counties. 
The  most  prominent  occurrences  are  near  Webster,  and  at  Hampton's, 
near  Burnsv'lle.     The  former  gave  chromic  oxide  63.32  per  cent. 

COBALT  AND  NICKEL. 

These  metals  are  found  very  frequently  in  the  auriferous  sulphides 
of  the  State,  but  in  no  known  instance  in  economical  quantities. 
Nickel  is  found  quite  generally  associated  with  the  chrysolite  range  in 
amounts  varying  from  0.15  to  0.35  per  cent.,  and  with  traces  of  cobalt. 
Prof.  Phillips  reports  some  good  specimens  from  Ellija}^  Creek,  Jack- 
son County,  and  one  (garnierite)  from  Bowman's  Bluff,  Henderson, 
containing  14.89  per  cent,  metallic  nickel. 


ECONOMIC  MINERALS. 

PYRITE. 

Pyrite  is  one  of  the  most  common  minerals  of  North  Carolina.  It 
is  not  only  found  in  globular  crystalline  masses  in  many  of  the  marl 
beds  of  the  Eastern  counties,  but  many  of  the  gneissoid  rocks  and  slates 
contain  it  in  considerable  quantities,  and,  besides,  it  is  found  in  almost 
every  mine  of  the  State.  In  the  gold  mines  the  associated  pyrite  is 
generally  auriferous.  Large  veins  of  compact  pyrite  are  now  being 
worked  in  Gaston  County,  and  promising  deposits  are  reported  as 
occurring  in  several  other  counties,  especially  in  Jackson  County,  near 
Balsam  Station  on  the  Murphy  Railroad,  a  large  deposit  is  said  to  occur. 

MICA. 

Since  18t)9  mica  mining  has  been  an  important  industry  in  several 
counties  of  the  mountain  region,  especially  in  Mitchell,  Yancey  and 
Macon,  and  to  a  smaller  extent  in  Jackson,  Buncombe  and  Haywood 
Counties.  The  aggregate  yield  of  cut  mica  to  date  has  been  more  than 
half  a  million  pounds,  valued  at  not  less  than  a  irillion  dollars.  A  new 
branch  of  the  industry  is  now  springing  up  in  the  grinding  of  the 
waste  mica  (nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  whole)  into  a  fine  powder,  which 
21 


322  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

is  used  in  lubricants  and  for  other  purposes.  Thelmica  occurs  as  large 
crystals,  associated  with  Cjuartz  and  feldspar,  in  veins  of  considerable 
extent,  situated  in  the  gneisses  and  crystalline  schists. 

KAOLIN  AND  FIRE-CLAY. 

Kaolin  is  found  in  many  of  the  Midland  and  Western  counties  of 
the  State  in  deposits  varying  in  quantity  and  qualit}',  and  suitable  for 
various  uses,  china  and  other  wares,  paper-making,  and  for  fire  brick. 
The  largest  deposits  of  pure  white  kaolin  are  found  in  the  Western 
counties  as  a  product  of  decomposition  of  the  feldspar  in  large  veins. 
A  number  of  these  veins  have  been  worked  during  the  past  lew  years. 
The  largest  is  that  worked  by  the  Carolina  Clay  Company,  near  Webster. 

Beds  of  tire-clay  and  potters  clay  also  abound  in  the  more  recent 
geological  formations  of  the  Eastern  and  Midland  counties.  The  two 
largest  deposits  of  fire-clay,  at  present  known,  are  one  near  Spout 
Springs  in  Harnett  County,  on  the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin  A'^alley  Kail- 
road,  and  on  the  Northwestern  Noith  Carolina  Railroad,  about  four 
miles  southwest  of  Greensboro.  Fire-brick  from  both  these  beds  have 
stood  satisfactorily  the  severest  furnace  tests.  Clay  from  the  latter  of 
these  deposits  is  now  being  manufactured  into  firebrick  and  terra-cotta 
ware  on  a  considerable  scale.  Fire-clay  is  also  said  by  Emmons  to  be 
abundant  in  CJaston  County,  and  there  is  a  de[)Osit  covering  a  consid- 
erable area  on  the  Murphy  Railroad,  three  miles  west  of  Asheville,  from 
which  fire-brick  are  now  being  manufactured. 

TALC. 

Foliated  and  fibrous  talc  occurs  in  many  places,  but  the  large  work- 
able beds  of  this  mineral  a])pear  to  be  limited  to  Macon  and  Cherokee 
Counties.  Here  on  the  Nantahala  River  in  Macon  County,  and  on 
Valley  and  Nottely  Rivers  in  Cherokee,  massive  fibrous  and  foliated 
white  talc  occurs  in  irregular  lenticular  masses  in  the  beds  of  marble, 
and  is  being  mined  and  ground  at  several  points  for  u.se  in  the  arts  and 
manufactures. 

Soapstone,  an  impure  variety  of  talc,  in  the  form  of  a  greenish  and 
grayish  massive  or  slaty  rock,  is  widely  di.stributed  in  the  State,  and  is 
mainly  used  locally  for  chimney  and  furnace  hearths  and  linings. 

AGALMATOLITE 

Is  found  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Cliatham  County.  This  is  a 
large  de[>osit  belonging  to  the  slate  series  (Kerr's  lluronian),  which  has 
quite  an  extensive  range,  occurring  in  Montgomery  and  parts  of  Chat- 
ham. It  is  popularly  called  soapstone,  and  has  the  soapy  feel  of  that 
mineral,  but  contains  only  3  02  per  cent,  of  magnesia.  This  substance 
has  been  an  article  of  trade  to  New  York  on  a  large  scale,  and  for 
many  years.  It  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  paper — ^wall-paper 
especially — soaps,  cosmetics,  pencils,  etc.,  and  for  various  adulterations. 


ECONOMIC    MINERALS.  323 

BARYTE. 

Small  deposits  of  baryte  are  to  be  found  in  many  places  in  the  IState, 
but  only  a  few  deposits  are  worth}'-  of  mention  here.  A  vein  of  very 
white  compact  granular  baryte,  of  from  seven  to  eight  feet  in  width, 
has  been  found  at  Crowder's  Mountain.  Another  vein,  eight  feet  in 
width  in  places,  of  the  white  granular  variety,  has  been  worked  to  some 
extent  at  Chandler's,  nine  miles  below  Marshall,  in  Madison  County, 
and  other  veins  are  reported  as  occurring  in  this  region. 

WHETSTONE. 

Among  the  silicious  argillytes,  so  abundant  in  the  region  described 
by  Kerr  as  Huronian,  there  are  frequent  beds  of  novuculite  or  whet- 
stone. One  of  the  best  localities  is  a  few  miles  west  of  Chapel  Hill, 
from  which  these  stones  have  been  carried  in  all  directions.  Other 
quarries  are  found  in  Person  County,  near  Roxboro;  in  Anson,  not  far 
from  Wadesboro ;  in  Montgomery  and  adjoining  counties  on  the  great 
slate  belt,  and,  in  fact,  almost  every  section  of  the  State  has  its  own 
quarries,  which  either  do  or  might  supply  the  local  demand,  at  least  in 
part  and  as  to  articles  of  the  commoner  grades. 

MILLSTONE  AND  GRINDSTONE  GRITS. 

The  sandstone  of  the  State  is,  in  many  places,  w^ell  adapted  to  the 
purposes  of  grindstones,  and  during  the  war,  wdiile  the  foreign  supply 
was  cut  off,  they  were  largely  so  used.  The  Anson  County  quarries 
furnish  a  very  fine  grindstone  and  whetstone  grit. 

The  conglomerates  of  the  triassic  series,  which  are  associated  with 
and  replace  the  sandstones  above  mentioned,  have  been  long  and 
widely  used  for  millstones.  They  have  been  principally  obtained  from 
Moore  County,  on  McLendon's  Creek,  where  they  are  obtained  of  excel- 
lent quality,  and  they  have  been  distributed  from  this  point  over  a 
large  number  of  intervening  counties  to  the  Blue  Ridge.  Some  of 
these  stones  have  been  in  use  for  fifty  years,  and  the}'  are  occasionally 
found  to  be  nearly  equal  to  the  French  buhr-stone. 

The  coarse  porpliyroidal  grMnites  and  gneisses,  which  are  scattered 
over  GO  large  a  part  of  the  State,  are,  however,  the  most  common 
material  for  millstones;  and  in  the  Eastern  section  the  shell  rock  is 
often  partly  or  wholly  silicified,  forming  a  sort  of  buhr-stone,  as  in 
Georgia,  and  is  well  adapted  to  ttie  same  uses.  In  Madison  County,  in 
the  crystalline  schists  in  Laurel  River,  there  is  an  irregularly  laminated 
whitish  quartz,  occurring  in  large  veins,  which  is  used  for  millstones, 
which  are  reported  to  be  a  good  substitute  for  buhr-stone. 

CORUNDUM. 

Corundum  has  been  found  in  considerable  quantities  in  several 
counties;  notablv  Macon,  Clay,  Jackson,  Haywood,  Madison  and  Ire- 
dell, and  in  smaller  quantities  it  has  been  found  in  many  other  places. 
During  the  past  several  years  mining  for  corundum  has  been  animpor- 


32-t  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

taut  industry  in  Macon  County  at  Corundum  Hill  and  on  Buck  Creek. 
During  the  jpresent  year  (1892)  extensive  mining  operations  have  been 
in  progress  at  several  places  in  Macon  and  Jackson,  and  on  a  smaller 
scale  in  Iredell  and  a  few  other  counties. 

MARLS. 

Marl  is  very  abundant  in  twenty-five  counties  in  North  Carolina, 
very  widely  distributed  and  of  several  kinds,  the  principal  of  which 
are  four,  viz.:  Green-sand,  eocene,  miocene  and  triassic.  The  first  has 
generally  but  a  small  percentage  of  carbonate  of  lime,  5  to  30;  the 
second,  usually  40  to  95;  the  third,  20  to  GO;  and  the  fourth, generally 
less  than  50.  The  last  is  of  little  consequence  as  a  fertilizer,  because  of 
the  very  limited  extent  of  its  outcrops,  and  it  is  scarcely  used  where 
abundant. 

Green-sand  Marl  occurs  throughout  the  Southeastern  region  of 
the  State,  between  the  Neuse  River  and  the  Cape  Fear.  It  comes  to 
the  surface,  as  stated,  along  the  banks  of  the  Cape  Fear  and  Living- 
ston's Creek,  on  Black  River  and  South  River,  on  the  Neuse  River  and 
its  tributaries  about  and  below  Kinston,  along  the  Contentnea  and 
Moccasin,  and  a  few  points  even  as  far  north  as  the  Tar  River. 

Eocene  Marl. — The  marls  of  the  next  formation,  whicii  are  always 
found  overlying  the  preceding,  when  the  two  occur  together,  are  either 
a  calcareous  sand,  passing  in  places  into  a  friable  sandstone,  coarse  or 
fine,  or  a  fine  calcareous  clay,  or  a  conglomerate  shell  limestone,  more 
or  less  compacted,  and  occasionally  semi-crystalline.  They  are  com- 
posed of  comminuted  shells,  corals  and  other  marine  exuvitc. 

Miocene  Marl. — These  are  commonly  known  as  shell  marls,  or  blue 
marls.  They  are  found  in  limited  patches  or  "  beds,"  and  are  scattered 
over  a  much  wider  territory  than  either  of  the  preceding,  and  being 
nearer  the  surface,  and  so  more  accessible,  have  been  much  more  exten- 
sively used,  and  are  consequently  much  better  known.  They  are  found 
throughout  a  large  part  of  the  Eastern  region,  from  South  Carolina  to 
Virginia.  In  fact,  they  occur  in  all  the  counties  of  Eastern  North  Car- 
olina, except  those  lying  between  and  north  of  the  great  sound,  and 
two  or  three  small  outcrops  have  been  observed  in  Chowan  and  in  the 
northern  part  of  Currituck.  The  western  boundary  of  these  beds  is 
very  nearly  represented  by  a  line  parallel  to  and  three  or  four  miles 
west  of  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  Railroad,  from  Halifax  toGolds- 
boro.  Southward,  the  inland  boundary  is  Ibund  to  be  generally  but 
little  west  of  a  line  connecting  the  latter  point  and  Lumberton  ;  that  is, 
a  line  parallel  to  the  coast  and  about  sixty-live  miles  distant  from  it. 

GRAPHITE. 

This  mineral,  in  small  (juantities,  iscpiite  widely  distril)uted  in  North 
Carolina  in  the  crystalline  rocks,  both  slates  and  gneisses,  and  there  are 
beds  of  a  more  or'le.ss  impure  slaty  and  earthy  variety  in  several  sec- 
tions of  the  State,  the  principal  of  Which  are  two:  one  in  Gaston,  Lin- 
coln and  Catawba,  as  a  constant  associate  of  the  argillaceous  and 
talcose  slates  and  shalco  which  belong  to  the  Kings  Mountain  .slates, 
and  the  other  in  WakeCoun'v. 


ECONOMIC    MINERALS.  325 

The  Wake  County  beds  are  the  most  extensive,  as  well  as  the  best 
known,  graphite  beds  in  the  State.  They  extend  in  a  northeast  and 
southwest  direction  for  a  distance  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  miles,  passing 
two  and  a  half  miles  west  of  Raleigh.  The  thickness  is  two  or 
three,  and  occasionally  four  feet.  The  eastern  (and  longitudinally  the 
most  extensive)  bed  is  nearly  vertical.  It  w^as  opened  at  a  number  of 
points  many  years  ago  and  has  been  worked  on  a  small  scale,  at  inter- 
vals, during  the  past  few  years.  It  is  a  bed  of  quartzitic  and  talco- 
argillaeeous  slates,  which  are  more  or  less  graphitic,  from  about 
twenty  or  thirty  to  sixty  per  cent. 

COAL. 

The  coal  fields  of  North  Carolina  are  referred  to  the  triassic  system. 
There  are  in  the  State  two  narrow  belts  which  belong  to  this  system. 
The  smaller,  or  Dan  River  belt,  from  two  to  four  miles  wide,  following 
■  the  trough-like  valley  of  that  stream  (about  north  65°  east)  for  more 
than  thirty  miles  from  Germanton  to  the  Virginia  line.  The  other,  the 
Deep  River  belt,  extending  in  a  similar  trough  five  to  fifteen  miles 
wide  (and  depressed  100  to  200  feet  below  the  general  level  of  the  coun- 
try) from  the  southern  boundary  of  the  State  in  Anson  Count}',  in  a 
northeast  direction,  to  the  middle  of  Granville  County  M'ithin  fifteen 
miles  of  the  Virginia  line. 

The  most  important  and  conspicuous  member  of  both  series  is  a 
large  body  of  black  shales,  which  encloses  seams  of  bituminous  coal 
two  to  five  feet. 

The  coal,  with  its  shales,  outcrops  along  the  northern  margin  of  the 
belt  at  various  points  for  more  than  fifteen  mile?,  and  many  shafts  hav- 
ing been  sunk  to  and  through  the  main  seam,  which  is  the  upper  one, 
it  is  ascertained  to  be  very  persistent  in  all  its  characteristics  and  asso- 
ciated beds. 

In  the  Deep  River  basin  Emmons  reports  five  seams  of  coal,  separ- 
ated by  black  shales  and  slates,  black-band  iron  ore  and  fire-clay;  and 
gives  the  area  of  this  coal  field  as  300  square  miles.  The  Egj^pt  Coal 
Company  is  now  engaged  in  mining  this  coal,  and  the  output  is  reported 
even  larger  than  the  company  had  been  led  to  expect. 

During  the  past  few  3'ears  this  coal  has  been  mined  at  Egypt,  and 
arran^^ements  are  being  made  for  mining  at  other  places.  The  coal 
varies  from  bituuiinous  to  a  semi-anthracite  in  qualit}^,  containing 
from  68  to  85  per  cent,  of  carbon,  and  from  5  to  33  per  cent:  of  volatile 
matter,  from  5  to  10  per  cent,  of  ash,  and  from  5  to  3.5  per  cent,  of 
sulphur.  It  cokes  well,  is  an  excellent  coal  for  gas,  and  is  suitable  for 
a  variety  of  furnace  work. 

In  the  Dan  River  basin  coal  is  exposed  at  a  number  of  places  near 
the  southeast  border  of  the  formation,  along  the  road  on  the  south  side 
of  the  river,  between  Germanton  and  Walnut  Cove.  At  a  few  points 
it  is  a  bituminous  coal  of  fair  quality,  and  the  seam  from  two  to  four 
feet  thick.  The  outlook  for  the  occurrence  here  of  workable  beds  of 
coal  is  promising,  and  some  prospecting  has  been  carried  on  during  the 
present  year,  but  the  result  has  not  yet  been  fully  determined. 


326  HAND-BOOK    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Black  bituminous  shales  appear  at  various  points  in  the  direction  of 
Madison  and  Leaksville.  Near  this  latter  place,  a  slope  was  driven 
some  sixty  feet  on  the  coal  seam  three  feet  thi^'k,  and  dipping  35° 
northwest ;  but  here,  as  at  several  of  ihe  places  prospected  near  AValnut 
Cove  more  recently,  the  coal  is  so  impure  that  it  can  hardly  be  consid- 
ered more  than  a  highly  carbonaceous  shale. 

GEMS  AND  PRECIOUS  STONES. 

The  discovery  several  years  ago  of  emerald  and  hiddenite  in  Alex- 
ander County,  where  mining  operations  on  a  considerable  scale  have 
been  carried  on,  may  be  fairly  said  to  have  inaugurated  a  new  indus- 
try in  Western  North  Carolina — thesearch  for  gems.  This  industry  has 
now  grown  to  considerable  proportions.  The  larger  amount  of  mining 
has  been  done  in  the  explorations  for  hiddenite,  emerald,  beryl  and 
rarely  tinted  garnets,  but  a  limited  amount  has  also  been  done  in 
searching  for  ruby  corundum,  sapphire,  oriental  emerald  and  topaz, 
kyauite,  rock  crystal,  and  other  rare  minerals.  Only  a  few  notes  can 
be  given  here  relative  to  the  more  important  gems. 

Diamond. — Thirteen  small  diamonds  have  been  found  in  the  State, 
seven  of  which  were  discovered  in  the  gold-bearing  gravel  beds  in 
Burke,  Rutherford  and  ^IcDovvell  Counties,  centering  about  the  Brin- 
dletown  region.  Of  the  others,  one  has  been  found  in  Lincoln,  two  in 
Mecklenburg,  two  in  Franklin  and  one  in  Richmond  County 

HiDDENiTK  is  an  emerald-green  gem,  a  variety  of  spodumene,  found 
at  Stony  Point,  Alexander  County,  where  it  occurs  in  the  soil  and  in 
cavities  in  gneissoid  rock,  along  with  emerald  (beryl),  monazite,  rutile, 
allanite,  quartz  crystals,  etc.  A  considerable  amount  of  mining  for 
these  gems  has  been  carried  on  during  the  past  few  years,  and  both  hid- 
denites  and  emeralds  of  rare  beauty  and  considerable  value  have  been 
obtained.  Hiddenite  was  named  after  Mr.  Wm.  E.  Hidden,  of  New 
Jersey,  by  Prof  J.  Laurence  Smith,  who  identified  the  mineral;  to  the 
energy  of  Mr.  Hidden  is  due  its  introduction  as  a  gem  of  rare  value,  but 
specimens  of  the  native  crystal  were  in  the  [)ossess  on  of  Mr.  J.  A.  D. 
Stevenson,  of  Statesville,  N.  C,  for  several  years  prior  to  this  time  (18S1). 
This  gem  has  not  been  found  els-^where  than  at  this  locality. 

Emkrald — A  beryl  of  emerald-green  color  has  been  found  in  the 
North  Carolina  mica  veins  in  Mitchell  and  Yancey  Counties,  and  at 
Stony  Point,  Alexander  County,  as  a  gem  material  of  great  beauty. 

Aqi:amai;ink. —  Bluish  green,  transparent  beryl,  luisalso  been  found 
in  small  crystals  and  masses  in  many  of  the  mica  veins  of  Mitchell, 
Yancey,  Alexander  and  other  counties.  This  is  more  abundant  than 
the  emerald.  Both  were  often  thrown  away  on  the  dumps  about  the 
mines  several  years  ago,  but  they  are  now  watched  for  carefully  in  min- 
ing for  mica,  and,  in  some  cases,  the  transparent  beryl  is  the  material 
for  which  the  mine  is  operated. 

Many  tine  beryl  crystals  of  different  colors,  and  ranging  in  size  from 
very  small  to  more  than  two  feet  long  and  seven  inches  in  diameter, 
have  been  collected  at  the^'e  mica  mines,  and  some  from  other  forma- 
tions. 


KCONOMIC    MINERALS.  6z7 

Ruijy. — The  ruby  corundum  has  been  found  in  Clcav  and  Macon  in 
considerable  quantity,  and  to  some  extent  in  Jackson,  Iredell,  Mitchell 
and  Gaston  Counties.  Perhaps  the  most  noted  locality  has  been  Corun- 
dum Hill,  in  Macon  County,  where  many  fine  gems  have  been  found. 

Sapphire, — The  sapphire  corundum  has  been  found  in  many  of  the 
localities  named  for  the  ruby,  but  is  more  rare.  Nevertheless,  a  con- 
siderable number  of  pretty  gems  have  been  discovered.  The  same 
is  true  in  regard  to  the  oriental  gems— emerald  and  topaz. 

Kyanite  is  a  widely  distributed  mineral  in  the  State.  At  several 
places  it  has  been  found  in  specimens  of  sufficient  clearness  and  beauty 
to  be  cut  as  a  gem.  The  finest  material  yet  discovered  was  found  on 
Yellow  Mountain,  near  Bakersville.  It  was  of  a  beautiful  deep-blue 
color,  and  from  it  were  cut  gems  equal  to  the  finest  sapphire  in  appear- 
ance. 

Rociv  Crystal  is  abundant  and  widely  distributed.  Many  rare  and 
interesting  forms  have  been  found,  and  some  remarkably  large  crystals, 
nearly  three  hundred  pounds  in  weight,  have  been  found  in  Ashe 
County.  Many  and  beautiful  specimens  of  rutilated  quartz,  and  smoky 
quartz  (cairngorm)  have  also  been  found  at  a  number  of  localities. 

Opal. — A  number  of  specimens  of  opal  and  opalescent  quartz  have 
been  found  in  Cabarrus  and  other  counties  during  the  past  few  years, 
some  of  the  specimens  of  considerable  beauty  and  value. 

Agate. — Specimens  of  common  agate  have  been  found  in  Cabarrus 
and  Mecklenburg  Counties,  and  among  them  a  few  handsome  gems. 
Some  fine  specimens  of  moss- agate  have  been  found  in  Orange  County. 

Garnet  is  widely  distributed  throughout  the  State,  and  is  a  constant 
cons:ituent  of  many  of  the  mica  and  hornblende  slate,  and  also  of  the 
talcose  and  chloritic  slates.  Larger  crystals  of  a  brownish-red  color  are 
frequently  met  with  in  the  mica  mines  of  Mitchell  and  Yancey  Coun- 
ties. The  most  beautiful  and  perfect  large  crystals  of  the  browni,sh-red 
color,  are  found  in  Burke,  Caldwell  and  Catawba  Countie.s.  Some 
of  these  wdien  cut  show  a  peculiar  play  of  colors.  Large  crystals  and 
crystalline  masses  of  a  reddish-brown  garnet  are  found  in  Macon  and 
Mitchell  Counties.  Pyrope  of  good  color  has  been  observed  in  Burke 
and  McDowell  Counties.  The  massive  manganese  garnet  is  abundant 
in  Rutherford,  Chatham,  Stokes,  Cabarrus,  Lincoln,  Gaston  and  Rock- 
ingham Counties.  At  a  locality  eight  miles  southeast  of  Morganton, 
several  tons  of  garnets  were  collected  and  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
sand-paper.  The  rarest  colored  garnets,  for  gem  purposes,  are  found  in 
Macon  County. 

Zircon. — Small  zircon  crystals  abound  in  the  gold  sands  of  Burke, 
McDowell,  Rutherford,  Caldwell,  Mecklenburg  and  other  counties,  in 
yellowish-brown  and  brownish-white,  sometimes  amethystine,  pink  and 
blue  colors.  Large  grayish-brown  crystals  of  zircon  are  found  so 
abundant  on  the  south  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  near  Green  River,  Hen- 
derson County,  that  in  1869  General  Clingman  easily  obtained  one 
thousand  pounds  in  a  few  weeks,  and  a  few  years  ago  over  thirty  tons 
were  mined  at  this  locality,  where  the  crystals  are  found  bedded  in  a 
decayed  feldspathic  gneiss. 


?)28  hani>-i5<)ok:  f»F  north  carolixa. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  it  is  worthy  of  mention  that  specimens  of 
malachite,  rutile,  tourmaline,  spinel,  chrysolite,  lazulite,  carnelian  and 
jasper,  all  of  considerable  beauty,  have  been  found  in  different  local- 
ities in  the  State,  and  promise  supplies  of  new  gem  material. 

Pearls. — From  the  mussels  in  some  of  the  creeks  and  ponds  of 
the  State,  are  occasionally  found  pearls  of  fair  quality. 


INDEX. 


Pagb. 

Agalmatolite : 280-322 

Agate  - - 327 

Agricultural  Department   62-3 

Agricultural  and  Mechanic  Arts, 

Collegeof  64-69 

Agricultural  Products  ... 206 

Agricultural  Products,  Kinds  and 

quantity  of 207 

Aquamarine    .      . 326 

Balsam  Mountains 3 

Barytes 281-323 

Basket  Factory 282 

Bingham  School 84 

Black  Mountains     5 

Bleaching  Factory -. 282 

Blue  Ridge  Mountains 2 

Boundaries  of  the  State 1 

Brooms,  Manufactory  of 282 

Building  Stones 292 

Bucket  Factories   _  - 279 

Bulbs  and  Herbs 253 

Bulbs  and   Herbs,   Varieties    of, 

Marketed    .  253 

Bulbs  and  Herbs,  Extent  of  Busi- 
ness of  Wallace  in          253 

Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 72 

Canals  and  Artificial  Navigation .  289-290 

Canal,  Chesapeake  and  Albemarle  25 

Canal,  Dismal  Swamp 25 

Canneries,  Fruit  and  Vegetable  ..275-277 

Canneries,  Oyster 277 

Chromic  Iron          321 

Citizenship       54 

Climate  ...    .                    -..  42 

Climate,  Varieties  of,  from  East 

to  West 43 

Climate,  Varieties  of  Winter 44 

Climate,  Varieties  of  Summer  ...  44 

Coal _ 325 

Cobalt  and  Nickel 321 

Colleges  for  the  Colored  People  . .  91 

Shaw  University 91-92 

Scotia  University 92 

Livingston  College  . . 93-94 

Biddle  University    94 

St.     Augustine      Theological 

School    --.  94 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical 

School 94-95 

Copper,  Localities  of 310 

Copper  Mines  in   Granville    and 

Person 310 

Copper  Mines  in  Jackson  and  Hay- 
wood   - 311 

Copper  Mines  in  Ashe 311 

Copper  Mines  in  Alleghany 311 

Copper  Mines  in  Surry - 311 


Page. 

Corundum 323 

Cotton,  Quantity  of.  Produced  to 

the  Acre 207 

Cotton,  Relative  Extent  of  Crop  of  .21 7-21 9 
Cotton,  QuaUty  of  North  Carolina 

Cropof.- -        219 

Cotton,   Number  of    Counties  in 

State  Producing 219 

Cotton,  Crop  of ,  in  1889 220 

Cotton-gin,  Introduction  of 218 

Cotton  Spinning-jenny,  Introduc- 
tion of.-  -- 218 

Cotton  Mills  in  North  Carolina.  ..269-271 
Cotton  MiUs,  Number  of,  in  Opera- 
tion  271 

Cotton  Mills,  number  building.   .        271 

Cotton-seed  Oil  Mills 277-278 

Cotton-seed  OU  MiUs,  where  oper- 
ated  : ..        278 

Cotton  Bag  Factories 282 

Cotton-planters,  Manufactories  of.        282 

Counties,  Description  of 96 

Alamance 96 

Alexander  97 

Alleghany 98 

Anson 99 

Ashe 100 

Beaufort 1 00-103 

Bertie -         103 

Bladen. _. -..         104 

Brunswick 104-105 

Buncombe 106-108 

Burke 108-109 

Cabarrus 109-1 10 

Caldwell 110-111 

Camden ...111-112 

Carteret-.. .112-113 

Caswell 113-114 

Catawba 114-115 

Chatham. 115-116 

Cherokee... .116-117 

Chowan 118-119 

Clay 119 

Cleveland ..120-121 

Columbus 121-122 

Craven 122-124 

Cumberland 124-126 

Currituck... 126-127 

Dare 127-128 

Davidson 128-129 

Davie 130 

Duplin 131 

Durham 131-133 

Edgecombe ..133-134 

Forsyth .135-137 

Franklin 137-138 

Gaston 139 


330 


INDEX. 


Paqb. 

Counties — Gates 140 

Graham 140-141 

Granville .141-142 

Greene 143 

Guilford    143-145 

Halifax 146-147 

Haraett 147-148 

Havwood 148-149 

Henderson 149-150 

Hertford 150-151 

Hyde    .151-153 

Iredell    ...- 153 

Jackson 153-154 

Johnston 155 

Jones - 155-156 

Lenoir ....156-157 

Lincoln 157-158 

McDowell.... ....158-159 

Macon 159-160 

Madison    161-162 

Martin 163-163 

Mecklenburg 163-164 

Mitchell _  165 

Montgomery 165-166 

Moore  ...., 166-167 

Nash .167-169 

New  Hanover 169-171 

Nonliampton .  .         in 

Onslow    . 173-173 

Orange 173-174 

ParnHco 174 

Pasquotank 175 

Pender ..175-176 

Penjuimans 177 

Person 177-178 

Pitt 178-179 

Polk    ...179-180 

Randolph 180-181 

Richmond 181-183 

Robeson 183-184 

Rockingliam 184-185 

Rowan   ..185-186 

Rutherford 186-187 

Sampson   . 187-188 

Stanly 188-189 

StokJs    ..   189-190 

Surry..     .    .190-193 

Swain      .193-193 

Transvlvania 193-194 

Tyrrell 194-195 

Union ...         195 

VsMicA' 195-196 

Wiike  .      ..      ..196-198 

Warren  198-199 

Washington 1 99 

Watauga 300 

Wayne 201-803 

Wilkes 202-303 

Wi  Ison 203-204 

Yadkin    304 

Yancey 204-305 

Cowee  Mountains 3 

Cross  C'l  lains 3 

Davis  School 85 


Paoe. 

Deaf.  Dumb  and  Blind  Institute . .  61 

Denominational  Colleges 80 

Wake  Forest 80-81 

Davidson 81-82 

Trinity 81-83 

Diamonds 336 

Dimensions  of  the  State 1 

Education 75 

Eastern  Section 11 

Eastern  Section,  Soils  of 11-13 

Economic  Minerals  _ .321-338 

Emeralds . 326 

Fancy  Wood- work,  Factory  for..  283 

Fertilizer  Factories . . 378 

Fertilizer  Factories,  where  oper- 
ated  378-379 

Fire-clay ...  332 

Fish,  Varieties  of .  345 

Fish,  Catch  of 247 

Fisheries   241-243 

Fisheries.  Statistics  of  _ 242 

Fisheries  of  tlie  Cape  Fear 342 

Fisheries  of  Heaufort  and  More- 
head . 243-244 

Fisheries  of  Newbern  . 245 

Fisheries.  Information  Relating  to 

the    245-346 

Forests 6 

Extent  of 37 

Variety  of 27 

Trees  of  the 27 

Pine.  Long-leaf 38 

Pine.  WHiite  29 

Pine.  Yellow —  39 

Pine.  Jersey 29 

Pine,  Slasl/ 29 

Cypress   . .   30 

White  Cedar,  or  Jumper,  30 

Balsam  Fir... 31 

Black  Spruce.. 81 

Oak.  Live   .    33 

Oak.  White 32 

Oak,  Post 33 

Oak,  Spanish .  33 

Oak,  Black 33 

Oak.  Scarlet 33 

Oak,  Willow    33 

Oak,  Laurel... 34 

Oak,  Shingle..   34 

Oak,  Water 34 

Oak ,  Blackjack .  34 

Oak,  Rock  Chestnut 34 

Hickory .  -33-34 


Hickorj',  Shell-bark 
Hickory,  Common 
Hickory,  Pig-nut.. 
Walnut.  Black  ... 
Walnut.  White   ... 

Chestmit   .  - 

("hinquapin 

Beech  

Buckeye 

Locust 

Catalpa 


35 
35 
35 
35 
35 
35 
36 
37 
36 
37 
37 


INDKX. 


331 


Page. 

Forests.  Trees  of  the — Maples 37 

Ash 38 

Elms  ..--         38 

Wild  Cherry 38 

Gums 39 

Tulip  Tree,  or  Poplar ...  39 

Frost,  Usual  first  fall  of 45 

Furniture  Factories 28"i 

Garnet 327 

Gems -.    - - 336 

Geological  Museum 73  \ 

Gold-mining  in  North  Carolina  .  396-297 
Gold  Gravels  in  the  Piedmont  and 

Mountain  Sections  308-309   ; 

Gold-mining  in  Warren,  Franklin  ' 

andNash 297 

Gold-mining  in  Moore .-         297 

Montgomery    298-299 

Randolph 299 

Stanly  .._ ...300-301 

Cabarrus 301-302 

Davidson.- .303-304 

Guilford 304 

Mecklenburg     305-306 

Rowan  _ 304-305 

Gaston     307 

Lincoln,  Catawba,  Davie  and 

Caldwell 307 

Ashe  ... 308 

Government,  Character  of  State.  53 

Governor's  Mansion      74 

Granite,  Quarries  of .   292-294 

Grape  in  North  Carolina 253 

•    Cultivation  of  the 254 

Varieties  of  the .         254 

Vitis  a?stivalis 254 

Vulpina 255 

La  brusca ....   255 

Graphite  ...         324 

Green  River  Mountain     3 

Grindstone . . 323 

Heights  of  Mountains 5 

Hiddenite 326 

Higher  Female  Education ^ .  86 

Salem  Female  School  . .    86 

St.  Mary's  School 87 

Peace  Institute 87 

Gi-eensboro  Female  College  . .  88 

Oxford  Female  Seminary   .  _ .  89 

Asheville  Female  College 89 

Horner  School      . 85 

Hungry  Mountains 3 

Inland  Navigation,  Extent  of    ...         290 
Internal  Revenue,  amount  paid  at 

Durliam  ....  292 

Internal  Revenue,  amount  paid  at 

WMnston 292 

Iron  Manufactories 281 

Varieties  of  281 

Iron  Ores  in  North  Carolina     311 

Geographical  location  of . ...  .311-312 

Varieties  of         312-320 

Judicial  Departm't,  Composit'n  of,  57 

Kaolin,  Deposits  of 280-322 


Page. 

Kyanite 327 

Lakes     ...   ...      .     23 

Mattamuskeet 23 

Phelps 23 

Alligator 23 

Pungo 23 

Waccamaw 25 

Legislati\  e  Departm't,  Election  of,  57 

Linville  Mountains 4 

Literary  Funds 77 

Locust  Pins,  Manufactory  of .  288 

Manganese 320 

Marls....          ..    324 

Manufactories  in  North  Carolina. 367-368 
Marble.  Quarries  and  format'ns  of  .395-296 

Mica - - - .    321 

Middle  and  Piedmont  Sections  . . .  3-8 

Muieral  Springs  in  North  Carolina,  236 

Cleveland  237 

Sparkling  Catawba . .  238 

Connelly 238 

Barium" . .    338 

Moore     239 

Piedmont 239 

EUerbe 240 

Panacea 240 

Seven  Springs 240-241 

Glen  Alpine 241 

Millstones 323 

Morus  Multicaulis  Fever.. 234 

Mountain  Section 1-3 

Nantahala  Mountains 3 

New-found  Mountain 3 

New  Garden  and  Friends'  Board- 
ing School.. ..-'.  90 

Newspapers,  List  of,  in  the  State..  290-292 
Normal  and  Industrial  School  for 

Females          . .  89 

Nurseries.  Favorable  conditions  for  251 

Nursery,  Pomona  Hill     .    251 

Occoneechee  Mountains  ...     4 

Opal         327 

Orphanages 70 

Oxford    •      ...  70 

Thomasville 71 

Thomi)son . .  71 

Presbvterian    71 

Odd  Fellows ....  71 

Colored  Baptist    ...          72 

Oysters,  and  Oj'ster  Survey...    ..  247 
Enactment  of    Law  for  Pro- 
tection of    248 

Report  of  Lieut.  Winslow  on. 248-249 

Extent  of  Grounds 250 

Variation  in  qualities  of 250 

Peanuts     .      .       221-223 

(  hief  State  Market  for 222 

Pearls    ..             ..           328 

Penitentiary,  The  State 61 

Pine-leaf  Factories 279 

Pisgah,  Mount -.  3 

Population  of  the  State,  Homoge- 

neousness  of                . ....  47 

Population  of  the  State,  Origin  of,  47 


332 


INDEX. 


Paqb, 

Population  of  the  State,  Negro...  48 
Population  of  the  State,  Indian..  49 
Population  of  the  State ,  Aggi'egate  50-52 
Ports  and  Harbors  of  North  Caro- 
lina  323-227 

Potato  Barrels,  Manufactory  of . .  282 

Pottery,  etc 279-280 

Precious  Stones 326 

Private  Schools 85-86 

PubUc  Institutions 60 

Public  Buildings    74 

Public  School  System 76 

Pyrites      .    ...' 321 

Railroads,  History  of 282-284 

Mileage,  etc. ,  of 285-286 

Railroad  Commission 73 

Rain-fall,  Average  annual 45 

Religious   Denominations,   Legal 

equality  of 59 

Religious    Denominations,    Mem- 
bership of 59 

Resorts,  Hotels 259 

Sea-side       . 259 

Nags  Head... 259 

Beaufort  Harbor    .......  260 

Island  Beach  260 

Carolina  Beach. 260 

Mountain  Resorts— Hot  Sp'gs.  261 

Haywood  White  Sulphur.  262 

Asheville  .262-263 

Battery  Park  Hotel 

Swannanoa  Hotel 263 

Kenilvvorth  Inn          263 

Oakland  Heights  Hotel-.  264 

Belmont  Hotel 264 

Arden  Park 264 

Hendersonville 264 

Flat  Rock 265 

Blowing  Rock 265 

Green  Park  Hotel 265 

Linville 265 

Cloudland  Hotel 265 

Southern  Pines 265-266 

Rice,  Cultivation  of 214 

Varieties  of        . 214 

Introduction  of 215 

Z^:  Golden  and  White  Seed 216 

»^     Prospects  of  increased  culture 

'*'      of    

Rice  Mills 279 

Rivers,  System  of .         17 

Names  of — Tennessee  17 

Hiwassec    17 

Nottelly              17 

Cheoah 17 

Nantahala        17 

Ocona-Luf ty   17 

Tuckaseege 17 

Pigeon   17 

French  Broad 17 

Nollechucky 17 

Elk.. 17 

North  Toe 18 

New  River 19 


Pags. 

Rivers,  Names  of — First  and  Sec- 
ond Broad 19 

Catawba 19 

Yadkin 19-20 


Dan  and  Roanoke 

Tar... 

Neuse 

Haw  River 

Deep  River 

Cape  Fear .   . .   

Black  River ...   . . 

North-East 

Lumber 

Waccamaw^ 

Rock  Crystal ... 

Ruby 

Saluda  Mountains 


20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

20 

21 

23 

22 

23 

327 

327 

1 

Sandstone,  Quarries  of 293-295 

Sapphire   . .      327 

School  Census 77 

School  Property,  Value  of 77 

Shoe  Factories 282 

Slirubbery ,  Varieties  of 40 

Snow-drop  Tree 40 

Rhododendron 40 

Kalmia,  or  Ivy 40 

Azalea         41 

Fringe  Tree. 41 

Silk.  Remarks  on 233 

Attempts  to  manufacture ....         234 
Manufactory    of,   at   Wades- 

boro 535 

Silver,  Lead  and  Zinc 310 

Slate  ....  296 

Soils  of  the  Middle  Section 10 

Snow,  Annual  fall  of 45 

Sounds  and  Bays — Pamlico 24 

Albemarle 24 

Currituck 24 

Croatan 24 

Core    25 

Bogue      .    25 

State  Capital 74 

State  Hospital,  Western 60 

State  Hospital  at  Raleigh 60 

State  Hospital,  Eastern 61 

State  Debt,  statement  of 57-58 

Steel  and  Iron  Works 281-283 

7 
54 

74 
13 
25 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
25 


Stock  Raising 

Suffrage . 

Supreme  Court  and  Library  Build- 
ing   

Swamps 

In  Hyde  County 

Dismal 

Dover 

Holly  Shelter 

Gum  Swamp 

Angola  Bay 

Swamp  Lands,  Area  of 

Talc 280-322 

Taxation 53 

Taxes,  Statement  of  State 55-56 

Taxes  on  White  Polls 56 


INDEX. 


333 


Paob. 

Taxes  on  Colored  Polls 66 

Taxes  for  School  Purposes 77 

Thermal  Belt 45-48 

Tobacco,  History  of 208-209 

Tobacco ,  Origin  of  Bright  Yellow .  209 

Extent  of  culture  of 210-2 1 1 

Value  of  crop  of 211 

Production  of  by  Counties. -.213-214 

Tobacco  Factories  in  North  Caro- 
lina, plug 271 

Tobacco  Factories  in  North  Caro- 
lina, smoking 271 

Tobacco  Factories  in  North  Caro- 
lina, cigarettes.-- 271 

Tobacco  Factories.  Exports  of,  in 

cigarettes  .- -- 272 

Tobacco  Factories,  Exports  of,  in 

plug  and  smoking 272 

Tobacco,  Exports  of,  in  snuff 272 

Tobacco  Warehouses,  Number  in 

Winston  _. 272 

Tobacco  Warehouses,  Number  in 

Salem  272 

Tobacco  Warehouses,  Number  in 

Greensboro 272 

Tobacco  Warehouses,  Number  in 

Durham 278 

Tobacco  Warehouses,  Number  in 

Henderson 272 

Tobacco  Warehouses,  Number  in 

Wilson    ..    272 

Tobacco  Warehouses,  Number  in 

Asheville 272 

Tobacco  Flues,  Manufactory  of . . .  282 

Tobacco  Boxes,  Manufactory  of..  282 


Paqr. 

Topography  of  the  State 1 

Truck  Farming 228 

Track  Farming,  Introduction  of. .        229 

At  Rocky  Point 

At  Magnoha 

Extent  of,  at  Newbern 230 

Products  of , around  Newbern .230-233 
Around  Elizabeth  City ...        232 

Tryon  Mountains 3 

Uwharrie  Mountain 4 

University  of  North  Carolina 77 

How  sustained 80 

Valley  River  Mountains 3 

Venus'  Fly-trap - 41 

Vineyards,  Attention  to,  and  in- 
crease of 256 

Medoc  Vinej^ard  -  - 256 

Tokay  Vineyard 256-257 

Southern  Pines  Vineyard 257 

Engardine  Vineyard 257 

Bordeaux  Vineyard 257 

Vineyards  in  Wake  County 257-258 

Water-power  of  the  State  - 10-23 

Whetstone  -   323 

Wine,  Manufacture  of 257-258 

\  Woolen  Mills  in  North  Carolina, 

I         number  of 270 

;  Wood- working  Establishments  — 

Of  Carriages  and  Buggies 273 

Of  Wagons 273 

Of  Furniture ... 274 

Of  Hubs,  Spokes  and  Handles.        274 
Of  Sash,  Doors  and  Blinds. . .         275 

Yadkin  River 19-20,43 

Zircon 327 


ii^mt-i 


R  cmiotD  ^        23  2,  25 


rnx- 


A     000  041  523     2 


's 


